How long have you been producing music and how did you learn?

Collaboratively with another engineer 11 years, yet completely on my own as both producer and engineer for three years.

What DAW(s) do you use and why?

Pro Tools for recording and finalizing the mix, Ableton for everything else!

What are your favourite pieces of gear and why?

I loved my UA Solo/610 but I left it in Peru and haven’t been able to get it back, so now I just miss it. For performing, I rely on two items as my go-to’s: Akai MPK mini (because it’s super mobile and has all the basics for launching samples, live automation, and playing pads), and the VOICELIVE PLAY pedal for vocals, cause the FX quality is amazing.

What are your favourite software plugins and why?

FabFilter all the way! Amazing suite, makes a huge difference at every stage of the mix/sound design. Also, the native Ableton plugins are great (Echo, Glue Compressor, Operator, Granulator, and so many more). And of course Valhalla VintageVerb. These days I use it in parallel processing for vocals and snares pretty much without fail!

How would you summarise your approach/workflow when creating a track?

I typically start by finding a synth line or guitar riff, then arranging it in Ableton. Once I have a base sound that I’m happy with I’ll ad-lib vocals to find melodies I like. Then a few days later I listen back and give the melody shape by choosing my favorite bits from the adlib. Then the lyrics come next. Finally, I go back in and finish sound designing & mixing in Ableton. Then at the end, I export all the stems for a final round of Pro Tools mixing (this isn’t technically necessary but it does force me to think with new ears towards the final mix/master).

This is just the current workflow, but I admit I’ve tried all kinds throughout my life, including recording some lyrics/melody lines into my phone and then arranging it, as well as improvising with my guitar or keyboard and voice, and then arranging.

What resources do you use to improve your craft?

YouTube for sure! I also love Sonic Academy (especially their synthwave tutorials) and been also meaning to get the paid version of Mix With The Masters. I am also lucky to be finishing up a Master in Production and Technology from Berklee Valencia, so of course, I get a lot of resources there - but for those of you who can’t do a program like that right now, there’s a lot that can be done on our own for sure.

What is the last YouTube tutorial you watched that you would recommend to other Re-Ex Members?

For anyone interested in learning NI Massive, I recently saw this one and thought it was great for a comprehensive lesson on making sounds from scratch.
Also, there are multiple youtube vids on learning to make drums from scratch using Operator which I think are brilliant.

What knowledge or advice do you wish you'd learned earlier?

For beginner producers, spend time choosing amazing sounds/samples and the mix is halfway there! This will also raise your standards when you start creating your own sounds (I learned this the hard way since I started with Ableton’s cheesy stock library).

What challenges related to making music do you face and how do you overcome them?

I think general over-stimulation of possibilities of sounds tends to send me into mild shock. I overcome this daily by thinking to myself “this song will only use this range of sounds.” Ha. I have such a wide taste in music that I can get inspired by so many different tools, libraries, techniques, styles, etc. So I try not to lock myself down to any specific genre, sound or voice, and just follow my heart for what each specific song is meant to be.

Can you share any killer tips or techniques?

I love both extreme warping in Ableton and resampling / transforming audio bits and several instruments to color a song with added layers of itself!

Also, Paulstretch extreme warping is beautiful for Ambient music, and TAL-U-No-LX is genius for synthwave sounds.

Do you use any online tools to assist with the production process?

I guess Splice Rent-to-Own and iLok Cloud for plugin licenses. Hard to define what’s online and what’s local, since I’ve purchased all my software and plugins online.

Do you try and get feedback or suggestions to improve your music?

Absolutely! Again I feel lucky to be close with my music production classmates, but I don’t think it’s the only way. I definitely recommend in general reaching out to colleagues and friends for feedback along the production process. They are not your enemies. We are one big community of music magicians and we must raise each other up to higher standards so we can change the world with music together.

Also, I do use RepostExchange for feedback regularly by sharing songs before releasing them, so props to Re-Ex!

Which track are you most proud of and why?

Lovely Eyes I would say. It’s a good combination of my favorite sounds, lyrical message and melodic styles.

Has RepostExchange affected the way you make music? If so, how?

Re-Ex has absolutely helped my music by giving me a community of feedback while living in remote places such as the mountains of Peru for two years, which I think allowed me to stay connected to what resonates with people while still exploring more outlandish sounds. So yeah, I’d definitely say it has.

Desert Island Gear (top 5 software or hardware)

Top L-R: Serum, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

Bottom L-R: Ableton, RØDE NT2-A, FabFilter.

Connect with Tati Rabell on SoundCloud, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.