Here is a study on how to make banging, relentless techno drums like SNTS.

The key to this style is heavyhanded bus processing with Soundtoys Decapitator VST, some carefully crafted rumble layers, some foley rhythmic layers, and overall finding the sweet spot between "broken overdriven sounds" and "clean tightly controlled sounds".

Judge the result for yourself. We use Ableton Live 10 for this, and some simple VSTs like D16 Decimort, Decapitator, and Camelcrusher. Everything else is pretty standard DAW functionality.

Content:
0:00 Example of what we'll make
0:28 Talking about SNTS
1:16 Important message :)
1:29 Simple overview and global settings
2:05 Just the drums, with decapitator
3:29 The rumble design
5:36 The drum bus FX
9:57 A note on "fake loudness"
10:33 A note about dynamic range
12:24 The foley groove group
16:24 The hihat group
17:10 A love letter to D16 Decimort
19:47 Next steps in this study

The full SNTS study saga:
Part 1: SNTS-style drums:    • SNTS study: How to make banging indus...  
Part 2: Arranging an SNTS-style track:    • SNTS study: Arranging a full track fr...  
Part 3: SNTS study part 3: polishing & finishing:    • SNTS study part 3: polishing & finish...  
The final track for free on soundcloud:   / iconograph  

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