Secret Cinema’s Techno Chaos: MusicRadar Tech Gets Raw in Amsterdam

Jeroen Verheij, better known as Secret Cinema, doesn’t mess about when it comes to making techno. He’s not interested in polite, paint-by-numbers production—he thrives on a blend of chaos and calculation. In this MusicRadar Tech video, he opens the doors to his freshly built Amsterdam studio and lets us in on his secret: randomisation is his weapon of choice. By deliberately introducing unpredictability into his workflow, he stumbles across sounds and ideas that would never appear if he played it safe.

This isn’t just happy accidents—it’s a punk attitude applied to techno. Jeroen’s process is about letting the machines misbehave, then wrestling them into something dancefloor-worthy. If you’re after a step-by-step tutorial, look elsewhere. Here, it’s all about embracing the mess, trusting your ears, and knowing when to let go. The result? Tracks that sound alive, unpredictable, and anything but sterile.

Forget rigid sequencing—Jeroen’s approach to live techno is all about controlled unpredictability. He leans heavily on random note generators, step sequencers, and LFOs to inject life into his patterns. By rolling the dice on melodies and rhythms, he avoids the dreaded loop fatigue that plagues so much dance music. The result is a groove that’s always shifting, never static.

He’s also obsessed with humanising his drum programming. Little variations, subtle LFOs, and randomised triggers make his beats feel like they’re played by a real drummer on a bender, not a robot. It’s a masterclass in making machines sound alive. If you want to see how he keeps things from getting stale, the video’s full of clever tricks—far too many to spoil here. But trust me, you’ll never look at a static drum loop the same way again.

The evolution of ‘Ex-Drummer’ is a lesson in breaking the rules. Jeroen starts with oddball waveforms, FM basses, and modular randomness, then slices, dices, and rearranges until something unique emerges. He’s not afraid to use a loop from a sample CD, but you can bet he’ll mangle it beyond recognition before it hits the final track. The DX200’s FM engine gets a proper workout, morphing between scenes and creating basslines that wobble and growl in all the right ways.

What stands out is his refusal to settle for the obvious. Every sound gets pushed, filtered, and modulated until it’s dripping with character. The end result is techno that feels organic, unpredictable, and a bit dangerous—just how we like it. If you want to hear how a digital synth can make people shake their arses like it’s Carnival, you’ll have to watch the video. Some things just don’t translate to text.

Jeroen’s performance philosophy is simple: keep it live, keep it risky. He records everything, chops up the best bits, and arranges them into tracks that sound spontaneous but hit hard in the club. The interplay between live jamming and studio editing is what gives his music its edge. He’s always thinking about how a track will work on stage—even when he’s deep in the DAW.

The build-ups, breakdowns, and drops all come from this hybrid approach. He uses macros, performance controls, and a healthy dose of automation to keep things moving. The result is a track that evolves, surprises, and never gets boring. If you want to understand how to balance chaos and control, this section is essential viewing. But let’s be honest—no amount of words can capture the sweaty, unpredictable energy of Secret Cinema in full flow. Go watch it, then go make some noise.