How did SOPHIE create her sounds/songs?

The production process for SOPHIE was based on a combination of powerful hardware and software tools. She used Ableton Live, a well-known DAW for electronic music, to arrange and manipulate her tracks, and Native Instruments’ Massive, a versatile synth known for its aggressive and deep basses, for sound design. She also used Serum, a wavetable synthesiser, to create unique textures and evolving sounds, and Moog synthesisers, like the Moog Sub 37, for rich, analogue tones, and Korg Volca series machines for percussion. She also used sampling, distortion, and granular synthesis to create her signature abrasive and futuristic sound.

The Elektron Monomachine, a flexible digital synthesiser and sequencer, was a known tool used by SOPHIE. The Monomachine is well-known for its distinctive sounds and sequencing features, which let users produce complex textures and patterns. It was probably used by SOPHIE to create some of her unique melodic and percussion components. Another essential component of her setup was the Elektron Machinedrum, which gave her experimental beats and rhythms strong drum synthesis and sequencing. These two pieces of gear were essential to SOPHIE's capacity to produce her distinctive, futuristic, and intricate soundscapes.

Deep sound design is made possible with the powerful wavetable synthesiser plugin Serum. It is frequently used to produce intricate sounds including atmospheric effects, leads, pads, and basslines. Real-time waveform manipulation, modulation, filtering, and much more are all possible with Serum.

Serum is probably what SOPHIE utilised to produce some of her distinctive harsh, hyperreal sounds. Her use of a combination of futuristic tones, glitchy components, and synthetic textures would be complemented by the plugin's capacity to modify and morph sounds.

Although SOPHIE's employment of Serum in songs has not been officially verified, her work on songs like "Faceshopping," "Immaterial," and "Ponyboy" may have done so because of their intricate and dynamic soundscapes. These tunes' distinctive textures might blend nicely with the plugin's ability to produce forceful basses, changing pads, and complex leads.

SOPHIE's main digital audio workstation (DAW) for writing, producing, and arranging her songs was Ableton Live. Due to its versatility, it can be used to produce music in both linear and non-linear formats, which makes it perfect for electronic and experimental genres like SOPHIE's.

Ableton Live was utilised by SOPHIE for a number of important reasons:

1. Session View: Ableton's Session View's adaptable layout allowed her to explore non-linearly with concepts, loops, and arrangements—a perfect fit for her style of ever-changing textures and sounds.

2. Max for Live: By integrating Ableton with Max for Live, she was able to access specially designed instruments and effects, which broadened her range of sounds. She was able to produce intricate effects, granular synthesis, and distorted sounds thanks to this.

3. Sampling & Warping: In order to produce her distinctive, surreal, and flowing soundscapes, SOPHIE regularly worked with samples in Ableton, utilising its time-stretching and warping capabilities.

4. Effective Workflow: SOPHIE was able to quickly iterate and modify her songs thanks to Ableton's user-friendly interface and strong MIDI capabilities, which was ideal for her fast-paced and experimental production approach.

The capabilities and versatility offered by Ableton Live would have greatly improved SOPHIE's capacity to sequence intricate melodies and rhythms, layer effects, and modify sounds in real-time.