What is Lofi music? Basically it can be any genre and style, as long as the overall sound has that nostalgic and imperfect vibe. Music that sounds vintage but still classy, like a dusty old bottle of fine wine.
But how do you achieve that sound in your music? What are the music production tricks you can use. Let’s find out: How to Produce Lofi Music.
Short Answer: Use the RC-20 Retro Color plugin by XLN Audio
1 – LoFi Digital Resolution
The first aspect of LoFi music in any style, is the digital resolution of the final audio output. Modern music productions are so high resolution that they feel too clean, too “clinical”. The resolution of music in the digital domain is measured in bit rate, and bit depth.
The modern high quality standard is 16 bit, 44,1kHz, but can even go above this sometimes. For LoFi music however, you want to go below this. Even simply going from 16 to 12 bit will do a huge difference for that vintage sound. Try it and see for yourself! =)
2 – LoFi Background Noise
If you go back in time, to a world when no digital audio devices were used for music, it was all pure analog. Vinyl and tape cassettes were used for playing music. One thing that all analog devices have in common, is background noise. Completely random, subtle analog noise.
It will your music instantly get that “dusty” nostalgic vibe. You don’t even need much, just a hint of soothing analog noise will make your music somehow feel more “authentic” and soothing.
3 – Wobble and Swaying
Have you ever listened to music on an old tape or vinyl? There is a mechanical aspect of it, motion that is non-perfect. The spinning of the vinyl plate, or the turning of the tape wheels. This makes the final output of the music be non-linear both in terms of time, and of pitch.
It’s like a very slight wobble, or soothing swaying motion. For LoFi music, this can really make a huge difference for the authenticity and human imperfect atmosphere.
4 – Analog Saturation
When you think of distortion, you may think of digital clipping, or perhaps guitar amps. But distortion can be subtle, analog and harmonic. Such as in the old tape machines and analog gear used for music productions before the digital world arrived.
Adding a touch of that analog saturation, like a tape machine plugin, can make your music feel warmer, while also taming the peaks, and reducing the sharpness of the high range frequencies. Analog saturation can basically become like a soft blanket for your music, perfect for that LoFi mood.
5 – Random Noise
Any type of background noise in the audio recordings can add that final touch in your LoFi music. I am not talking about subtle analog noise here, but actual artefacts that are part of the recording environment and instruments. For example, if an instrument is recorded really really close up with a microphone, you will hear much more of these random noises.
Think of a close mic’ed piano or acoustic guitar for example. You will hear a lot of squeaks, key presses, fret noises, hammers moving. All mechanical noises of moving parts, transition sounds etc. are perfect to add those imperfections that make LoFi music so relatable to our ears. After all, this is what we all are as humans, imperfect but still beautiful.
Best Plugin for LoFi Music?
There is one software plugin that I can highly recommend for making LoFi music, and it is called RC-20 Retro Color and is made by XLN Audio. Add analog warmth, reduce the digital resolution, add warmth and analog saturation, motion and swaying…it can do it all, in one single plugin! =)
