🌞 Ready to go back to 2014 and put your producing skills in practice? Here’s all you need to know to get started.
Currently, the project is working on remakes of Kygo’s 2013-2016 work, preferably in a chronological order but not strictly. A lot can only be learned by looking at the roots first.
After having completed enough remakes, the project will be ready to produce its own original music! 👀
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Our approach for remakes is a rigorous one. The goal being maximum accuracy (to the point where you can no longer tell the difference), the work is done on Logic Pro 9, and each individual sound is carefully searched and deciphered.
No substitutes, no “similar enough” drums, no direct rips from the original (unless used for researching). Only the exact sounds that were used in the first place, as if we had access to his actual computer.
Don’t worry, the success rate is far higher than you think! After all, Kygo almost always relied on untouched factory presets, so his laziness is clearly at our advantage. 😉
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In the case of remakes with no high-quality reference material (example: Home We’ll Go remix), the approach can be applied in a less strict manner (usage of “similar enough” sounds), but the goal should still remain maximum accuracy.
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If your system can’t run Logic Pro, you can still contribute even if you use FL Studio on Windows! Here are examples of what you can help find:
- Nexus presets
- Sylenth1 presets
- Battery 4 drums
- Guitar Rig effects
- Kontakt libraries
- MIDI remakes
- and likely more!
You can also use tools like Audacity and MVSEP to extract specific sounds from a reference track that can help Logic remakers determine how to find them.
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Remember that Lyon is more than just a producer project. For example, you can also contribute by helping us find rare and lost media here: The Lyon Archive.
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If you don’t have a Mac system, refer to the 🪟 Non-Apple DAWs section below.
Logic Pro 9 (highly recommended)
By far the most fitting DAW for the Lyon project, and the only one officially used by the Lyon project. Kygo used it throughout his career until the end of 2016.
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ALL files shared (project files, channel strips) MUST be Logic Pro 9 compatible.
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To be able to run Logic Pro 9 and all plugins smoothly, you will need:
- A 64-bit system that can run EITHER:
- Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11)
- macOS Sierra (10.12)
- At least 8 GB of RAM
- A solid-state drive (SSD) with at least 256 GB of storage
❌ macOS versions after Sierra do NOT support Logic Pro 9. ❌ macOS versions before El Capitan do NOT support reFX Nexus 3.
If your Mac system is too new (> 2017), refer to the Logic Pro X section below.
If your system fits all requirements above, follow the guide below:
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For reference, Kygo used the following models:
- 2012 — November 2014: 15” MacBook Pro (Mid 2012, non-retina)
- November 2014 — 2016:
- Main: 27" iMac (Late 2013)
- Secondary: 15” MacBook Pro (2014 or 2013) </aside>
Logic Pro X
Second best option for producers with a newer Mac system that doesn’t support Logic 9.
Logic Pro 9 projects are backwards-compatible with X, allowing you to fully dissect a Lyon project file such as a remake or original, as well as channel strips.
You can also help research Logic-exclusive sounds and presets, but some required legacy sounds and presets may be missing.
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Logic Pro X legacy sounds workarounds (WIP)
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Logic Pro 11+
AVOID. Backwards-compatibility is not guaranteed for 11+ versions. Install Logic Pro X if available for your system.
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As per the no piracy rule, Logic project files should NEVER directly include non-distributable assets, such as samples from paid sources, Apple Loops, or downloads of original remixed songs.
Follow this guide to set up a “shared” folder that will contain all the proper files required to load project files:
Lyon shared folder setup (WIP)
Ignoring this step will result in missing samples when loading a project file.
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Don’t have a Mac system? No worries, most commonly used plug-ins are third-party and cross-compatible anyway.
However, keep in mind you’ll miss out on:
- Proprietary drums ans instruments (Ultrabeat, Apple Loops, EXS24 drum kits, sampled instruments…)
- Proprietary synths (ES2, Sculpture…)
- Overall remake accuracy (example: low/high cut behavior, sampled instruments not translating well…)
A “translation guide” will eventually be added here for equivalents of Logic-exclusive plugins to be used in other DAWs.