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Tutorials

fm synth power / make music now <


> Step by step

FM can create all kinds of percussive


sounds, including very harmonically
rich noise sounds using self-modulation.
Like the DX7, Abletons Operator doesnt
have an FM matrix a specific routing
algorithm must be selected. Click the
algorithm diagram to the right of the
main window to select a new routing at
the top of the main window.

Turn the Feedback up to 100% and


youll hear the synths timbre becomes
much rougher, getting noisier as it
approaches 100%. The key to creating a
really noisy timbre is to use as high a
frequency for the modulating operator as
possible. Click the Fixed button in
Operator Ds panel to set it to Fixed mode.

> Step by step

7. Noise-like percussion with Ableton Operator

Select the second algorithm from the


right. In this synth, any operator thats
not being modulated by another operator
can self-modulate. So to create our sound,
were going to use D as the modulating
operator, and C as the carrier. We dont
need operator A, so deactivate A by
clicking the power button on the right of
its panel.

In Fixed mode, we select a static


frequency in Hz for the operator. Set
the Freq knob up to 2.0kHz and set the
Multiplier to 10. When we play a note, we
get a sound approaching white noise. Its
possible to hear the carriers fundamental
still, so put operator C into Fixed mode
too, with the same settings as Operator D,
to push it out of the audible range.

Turn Operator Cs level up to 0dB


this gives us a pure sine tone. Now
turn Operator Ds level up to 0dB too. We
cant hear the output of D directly, but its
modulating Operator C, which generates
clearly audible extra harmonics. In the
synths main window, youll see a
Feedback parameter. This is what causes
the selected operator to self-modulate.

To sculpt our constant noisy tone into


a percussive hit, adjust Operator Cs
envelope to shape it over time. Make sure
Operator C is selected by clicking its panel,
then drag down on Sustain and set it to
-infdB. With Decay, you can tweak the
length of the hat to taste, creating cymbal
sounds with longer settings, or use the
noise for other sounds like snares.

8. FM-based riser FX in u-he Bazille

Bazilles flexible semimodular


architecture makes modulation
oscillator tweaking a snap. Load the synth
up in your DAW (the demo is at
u-he.com), and route the output of
Oscillator 2 to the Phase Modulation
input of Oscillator 1. Turn the modulation
amount all the way up to 100.00.

Oscillator 2 is now modulating the


phase of Oscillator 1. To affect how the
timbre changes over time, route the
output of Envelope 2 to Oscillator 2s
Frequency Modulation input. This means
Envelope 2 controls Oscillator 2s pitch.
Turn the Frequency Modulation Depth up
to 50.00.

Turn Envelope 2s Attack time to


75.00 to get a harmonically complex
effect that rises and falls in pitch. Finally,
open the Tweaks and FX page and click
the Delay button in the FX Ctrl panel in
the bottom left hand corner of the
interface for an awesome delay effect.

May 2015 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 47

Dr
Beat
with Ronan Macdonald
#03

Linear drumming

DOWNLOAD

How to simultaneously simplify and funk up beats and fills


Ronan Macdonald
Having
previously
served as Editor
of drummers
bible Rhythm as
well as
Computer
Music, Ronan is
clearly the right
man for this
particular gig. Hes been playing drums
for over 30 years and making music
with computers since the 90s.

>Step by step

Linear drumming describes the playing (or


programming) of a drum pattern in which
no two kit elements (drums, hats and cymbals)
are struck simultaneously. For the drummer,
this means only one limb ever makes contact
with the kit at a time, and for the programmer,
that only one note is ever active at a time on
the MIDI piano roll or drum editor.
With the drum kit clearly not designed to be
played this way, linear drumming might sound
like a purely technical exercise with no creative
advantage to be had over regular drumming.
However, it can lead to a characteristically funky
and spacious sound in a way that non-linear
drumming often doesnt.

See it in video and get the


tutorial files on your PC/Mac at
vault.computermusic.co.uk

For the producer, linear programming or


playing also offers the engineering benefit of
thinning a drum part out without detracting from
its rhythmic content, thus making it potentially
easier to fit into a mix. Achieving a comparable
result to the common practice of sidechaining
the drum kit off the kick drum in order to make
the latters presence felt, linear drum parts enable
every component hit of the groove to be heard
cleanly in isolation.
In this tutorial, Im going to take a decidedly
standard drum pattern and transform it into an
energetic and interesting groove using the exact
same linear approach that a drummer would if
they were playing it for real.

Adding clarity and funk with linear drum programming

TUTORIAL

FILES

Heres my regular, non-linear two-bar


groove, which were using to trigger
Toontrack EZdrummer 2. Its nothing
particularly fancy, comprising eighth-note
hi-hats alternating between accented
and lower-velocity hits with snares on
the backbeat, and a busy kick drum turn
and an open hat at the end of the phrase.

Well, my groove is certainly linear, but


its pretty dull. The key to funking up a
linear beat is breaking from regular hi-hats
and filling the gaps with hi-hats and snare
ghost notes (quieter hits). I place one or
the other on every unfilled 16th-note, and
move the open hat at the end of the bar
slightly to the right. What a difference!

82 / COMPUTER MUSIC / May 2015

The first bar couldnt be easier to


linearise all I have to do is knock out
every on-beat hi-hat! Even with the double
kick hit in the middle of the bar, this creates
a pattern in which only one kit piece is
ever struck at a time. We should bring the
velocities of the off-beat hats back up to
give the linear groove consistency.

Moving some of the snare ghost notes,


extra hats and one of the kicks to the
toms proves transformative, as does a
crafty snare press at the end of the first
bar and moving the following backbeat
snare off the beat. The result is a complex,
fully linear, tangibly aerated drum kit part
that should be easy to fit into any mix.

We have a decision to make in the


second bar: should we keep the hi-hat
or the kick on beat 2.3.3? You may wish to
maintain total regularity in the hi-hat line,
but actually, the kick is by far the more
important of the two, and linear grooves
sound better with a bit of hi-hat
syncopation anyway.

Theres nothing stopping you using


linear techniques with drum machines,
too. Above is our groove, slightly amended,
triggering D16 Nepheton. The dilemma I
face now is whether to put kicks on beats
2 and 4 nailing the 4/4 but compromising
linearity. What would you do..?

NEXT MONTH Ronan runs down some common rookie drum programming errors

MT Technique The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live: Part 3

W orldM ags.net
Ableton Live The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live Part 3

Processing
yourbeats

In Part 2 of the Ultimate Live Guide we built a nice,


clean MIDI beat with a few realistic variations, but
now Martin Delaney explains how to dirty it up!

n our last tutorial, we began a new Live project and


created a beat using one of Lives more acoustic,
natural-sounding kits. All good but now were going to
cannibalise that beat in two different ways - well
duplicate and process it to create a new tuned
percussion part that plays over the top, and well also
convert that original beat to audio, before slicing it up for
yet more processing, removing some of the slices

Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD

Theresnorightorwrongwith
thebeatsyouuseaslongasthey
arerightfortheproject
completely and replacing them with totally different
sounds.
Theres no right or wrong about the type of drum
sounds you use; what matters is theyre right for the
project youre working on at the time. Truthfully in most
genres these days, youll be working with many drum
tracks playing in parallel, combining acoustic and
electronic sounds. Dance music tracks are typically based
on core drum kits derived from the classic drum machines
of old, the Roland TR-808 and TR-909, but these sounds
will be customised, processed with audio effects, and
often layered alongside more realistic percussion sounds
for a richer texture. As well as mixing and matching source
kits, theres a lot of leeway with sample resolution and
sound quality; you can build a kit that includes nice high
resolution drum hits alongside grungy little samples that
youve grabbed from an MP3, YouTube, or youve
resampled from a little dictating recorder. Mix and match
- thats what its all about.
During the tutorial we talk about freezing and
flattening tracks - this retains each separate clip within

FOCUS ON QUANTIZATION
Sometimes Live treats audio and MIDI in similar ways.An example of
this is quantization.We discussed this for MIDI already,but we can also
do it with audio samples a very powerful feature.Try the sample in
our example Live set,Loose Beat.Double-click the clip to see the
waveform youll see its not exactly in time and we can fix this.
Right-click inside the waveform and type Cmd-U.Youll see the peaks
in the waveform snap to the grid.Cool! To change the quantization
values,use Shift-Cmd-U to access the quantization settings.

46 | April 2015

MAGAZINE

the track, which is incredibly useful. Just be aware that


Flatten is destructive - your original track is gone! What I
usually do is duplicate the track, then create a group track
called Spare which I use to contain all of the original
versions of my frozen tracks.
Youll notice that every clip in a flattened track is
double the length of the original source clip - this is a
feature not a bug(!), designed to accommodate effect tails
at the end of loops - this makes sense because its quite
annoying to hear a reverb tail cut off and begin again as a
sample loops. If youre obsessive about house-cleaning,
which I am, you can use the crop sample command to put
your clip back to its original length.
We added the Resonator effect to our new percussion
track. I love the Resonator, it has quite a distinctive sound,
although that means that sometimes you have to tweak it
somewhat to get something different. Its very important
to use that Note control though, and make sure its pitched
correctly to fit in with your other parts - things can get a
bit discordant otherwise.
Having programmed and customised a beat earlier,
were now converting it to audio and beginning the process
all over again, slicing it up and adding different sounds
and effects. Were doing this because I want to show you
the very cool Slice to New MIDI Track command, and also
because its another interesting creative step you can take.
Even when youre working with something youve
programmed yourself, you can give it more of a sampled
vibe by converting it to audio and slicing it up. It makes you
use different tools in different ways. Slice to

The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live: Part 3 Technique MT

W orldM ags.net
MTStep-by-Step Processing your beats

Open our example set - TUGTAL3. Select the drum track and type
Cmd-D to duplicate. Right-click the new track, choose Freeze
Track, then right-click again and choose Flatten, creating an audio
version of the track.

Freeze and Flatten makes double-length audio clips this helps


handle effect tails and the like. Use the Loop Brace, Start Marker,
and Crop Sample command to cut the clip back to the original length.

Set the new drum audio clip to Beats Warp mode if it isnt already,
then go down to the bottom of the Warp controls and choose the
top arrow icon, pointing to the right only.

This deactivates the Transient Loop mode, which determines how


the gaps between slices in Beats mode are handled. While the
loops running, click and drag downwards in the adjoining box to
reduce the decay between slices.

It sounds cool, yes? Its gating the waveforms transients. Drag


right down to 0 for a delicious clicky part, then use the Transpose
knob at the left to raise it by 24 semitones or two octaves.

Go to the Audio Effects category in the Browser and add the


Resonator preset called Berlin to the track. Set the Note inside
Resonator to E2, then try setting the Dry/Wet mix at 35%.

01

03

05

Track is great if you have a beat from another record, and


you want to edit the arrangement, or tweak or even replace
some of the sounds in the sample; putting a compressor
on the kick in a sample loop is a good example. I also like to
use lo-fi effects such as Redux, Erosion, and Cabinet to
dirty things up a bit. The correct technical term for the

02

04

06

slices made by this command, as theyre created and


placed in a rack, is chains. Dragging samples or
instruments to replace slices is a big thing; you can take a
loop from an old record and totally replace the kick or
snare with another sample. Or as we touched on here, drag
in an instrument. The slice will be replaced, and the
MAGAZINE April 2015

| 47

MT Technique The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live: Part 3

W orldM ags.net
MT Step-by-Step Processing your beats... contd

Now youve created a melodic percussion part by tweaking your


original beat. Live is great for recycling your audio and MIDI parts!
It is definitely possible to make an entire tune from one source sample.

Uh, maybe were getting bored with the original beat now it
sounds quite flat against the Resonator percussion track. Lets
put it through the wringer taking it on a gratuitous journey of sonic
dismemberment.

Right-click the track containing that original beat and choose


Freeze Track. Right-click again and choose Flatten.The MIDI
tracks disappeared! Freeze/Flatten is destructive thats why we
copied the track when we did it before.

This is just a fun way to mess with your parts as we want a


different vibe. Crop the new clip down to only two bars. Rightclick on it and choose Slice To New MIDI Track.

Choose the 1/8 Slicing option from the new window. Now you
have a new MIDI track and clip. Perverse, isnt it? Launch the clip
it should sound pretty much the same as the original.

This operation has sliced the audio clip, and made a new drum
rack, with a different instance of Simpler for each slice. Its also
automatically created a MIDI clip, with a note for each slice.

07

09

11

instrument will play as the clip loops. You can build really
interesting loops by adding soft synths, audio effects
really taking it on to another level.
If youre ever following a drum rack tutorial and youre
not seeing everything, make sure to click on the black
buttons at the bottom left of the rack these will show

48 | April 2015

MAGAZINE

08

10

12

and hide the various elements that make up the rack,


including input/output routing, effect sends and returns
(yes you can have these in a drum rack), and of course the
macros, chains, and devices.
If you really want to go big with elaborate evolving
beats, you can start using automation as well. This is a real

MT Technique The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live: Part 3

W orldM ags.net
MTStep-by-Step Processing your beats... contd

Audition the slices from your MIDI controller, or from your


computer keyboard (Shift-Cmd-K to activate that), or enable
Preview for the clip (the headphone icon) and click on each note to
hear it.

Effectively weve sampled ourselves. Experiment with dragging


the notes around the editor grid, to see what happens; you can
take any beat and reorganise it to fit your song, this is one of Lives
top features!

Not only can we reorganise the notes, we can tweak each slice.
Give the kick a little bump by dragging the Compressor preset
Brick Wall onto slices 1, 5, 9 and 13 in the clip.

Now we turn our attention to the snare. Drag the Ping Pong Delay
onto slice 3, the first snare in the clip. Wow! Thats too much. Dial
the Dry/Wet control down to 30%.

Delays are a great way to change the rhythm of your beats.


Onwards. We have another sample, called bass note E. Drag it
onto slice 7. It automatically creates a Simpler instrument to contain it!

Doing that automatically replaces the original slice now you


have a bass note hitting alongside the beat. Click on the track
name, type Cmd-R, and rename the track Sliced beat. Thats it for now.

13

15

17

opportunity to go nuts, because you can automate every


device in every chain in the rack, and that can be hundreds
of parameters. And of course you can separate the length
of the automation loop from the clip length (with the Link
button), and do that individually for each parameter, so
warn your friends and family that youre going to disappear

50 | April 2015

MAGAZINE

14

16

18

for a few weeks!


Thats all we have room for now and we havent even
mentioned the totally awesome Convert Audio to Drums
command. That will have to wait for another tutorial. Next
month we will use the Simpler instrument and MIDI Effect
devices to add some bass to our beats.. MT

Sidechain compression ducks one sounds volume level when another sound plays. This can maintain clarity when two
sounds share the same kind of frequency content, for example helping kicks punch through in a track with a big, subby
bass sound. Here the compressor will begin to duck the bass as soon as the transient portion of the kick plays. This part of
the kick is actually mid rather than bass, so our sub gets ducked before its strictly necessary. By filtering the sidechain
input signal we can ensure the sub only ducks when the conflicting, subby part of the kick plays, giving us a fuller sound.

Technique | Ableton Live

Ableton Live
Using Groove
Templates
Sometimes the robot is good, sometimes the robot
is bad Martin Delaney shows you how to borrow
some bounce from one place and use it somewhere
else, for some practical or weird effects!

ll of the major DAWs Cubase, Logic, Reason, and of course


Live have ways to apply groove templates; adding timing or
velocity variations that impart a more human feel to programmed
music. This goes back further than your computer, to machines
like the Akai MPC and Yamaha QY700. Its a desirable thing in
MIDI sequencing, just like we need quantisation theyre both
fundamental ways of adding a real-time feel to music thats been drawn in with
a pencil or tapped in on a keyboard, instead of being played on a real
instrument. Groove templates are simply a format used to store and recall this
information, for use in other tracks, or other projects. Electronic music being the
ever-changing beast that it is, sometimes we want more humanity, sometimes
less, and quite often inside the same song!

The way of the groove Live style


Every DAW implements this differently. As far as Lives concerned, a groove
combines two types of information: timing when the notes happen, compared
against a grid of bars/beats/fractions of beats; and velocity how hard the note
is being triggered, using standard MIDI velocity measurements to reproduce this
part of a performance. Nobody can play every note with exactly the same
velocity, so this is an important part of the sonic signature, even if the
variations are quite subtle.
Live grooves are kept inside the default Library, and any that we create are
contained in the User Library. You can find them through the Browser, either by
navigating to them directly (theyre in Packs/Swing and Groove 1 ) or by using
the search function Cmd-F. To apply a groove, all you have to do is drag it onto a
clip in your Live set, in either Session or Arrangement View grooves are
clip-specific, they dont apply across an entire track. After youve added a groove
to your set, you can view it in the Clip box at the bottom left of the screen;
theres a little pop-up box called Grooves 2 . If youve got more than one groove
in your project, you can view and load all of them from here. Actually, you can
also use the hot-swap button next to the word Groove there to view the grooves
in the Browser they end with .agr. Open the Groove Pool by clicking on the
small wavy icon under the Browser, and you will see the controls for the grooves.
Here you can fine-tune them to suit your specific material, and this is usually a
good idea. There are separate controls for each groove that you load, for even
more flexibility. After making changes to a groove, you can use the save button
in the Pool to put it in the user library, and rename it if you want to.

58

For many situations, the library grooves


will contain something that you can use;
theres a lot of them in there, you know. But
if youre matching something from an
outside source, or you have for instance a
drum sample which has a groove that you
absolutely must have, you can steal the
groove from that. To do this you right-click
on the clip you want to take from, and
choose Extract Groove(s) 3 . This will then
put it in the Groove Pool, and you can work
with it just like any other groove. The ability
to extract and modify the groove from a
piece of music fits right in there with some
of Lives other tools, especially the Slice to
New MIDI Track command. These are ways
that you can take what you want from the
character of another tune, ditching whatever
doesnt fit with your master plan along the
way. Bad news for users of Live Lite or Live
Intro those slimmed down versions will let
you load grooves, but not edit them.

Groove Management

Once youve created your


ideal groove, save it into
the Library by clicking the
The Expert
Save Preset button. By
Martin Delaney,
default this goes into the
Performer, Producer
Artist and
Grooves folder, accessible
instructor
Martin, aka
from Places in the Browser
mindlobster,
Sidebar the left-hand
has produced Live
training material and
column; you can rename,
was one of the UKs
first certified Ableton
move, or delete these. You
Live trainers.
can share or archive them,
as well, either by saving or
sharing a Live project that contains your groove/s,
or by finding the groove in your User Library
folder in the default Live location, and dragging
them onto a USB drive, or into an email.
Going deeper with the groove
The Groove Pool also features a Global Amount control, at the bottom right 4 .
You can use it to change the depth of the groove effect across all of the clips in
your project. This ranges from 0% to 130%, so you can push the groove up
beyond its original application. When youve got grooves applied to clips in your
set, this control also appears at the top of the Live screen, in the Control Bar 5 .
You might be wondering if you can exchange groove templates between
different DAWs, and I was wondering about this too; I tried. The answer is no.
Theres no common shared format for these; you would have to do it by creating
and exporting MIDI files that contained the information. Even without saving
them in the User Library, you can move them between projects using the
Browser. Navigate to the project containing the grooves youre after, and unfold
it, just as you do to see tracks and clips inside it. Open the Grooves folder and
pull out the grooves into your new set 6 .
For Push users, we cant view the Groove Pool controls in the LCD screen,
and we cant browse and load grooves, but we can use the Swing knob on Push,
in conjunction with the Quantize button this isnt connected to Lives global
groove, or to localised grooves from the Pool. For other hardware controllers,
theres no way to MIDI map those groove controls.

Ableton Live | Technique

The Way of The


Groove Live Style

Going Deeper With


The Groove

Alternative Velocities

>
>

Grooves With
Unusual Rhythms

>
8

>

VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD

59

Technique | Ableton Live

Alternative velocities
Sometimes you want to work with
only the velocities, and leave the note
timings alone. You can do this in the
Groove Pool controls, by using the
Timing and Random controls to
straighten them out, and just
manipulating the Velocity settings.
You can also do it by avoiding grooves
altogether, and using Lives native
Velocity MIDI effect device. Just add
it to your MIDI track and you can use
it to limit or expand the velocity
ranges in your track. This is different
than using a groove, mainly because
it applies to the entire track, and as I
said, its going to affect only the note
velocities. Like Lives other MIDI
effects, this can be used as a
real-time effect, applied to incoming
MIDI messages from a keyboard,
drum pads, hardware, or other software 7 . For some programming situations, I
prefer to hear slight, randomised, velocity changes, but to keep the note timing
tight and quantised. The Velocity effect can be loaded from, and controlled by,
Push; hold down Shift and add device, and (as long as youre in a MIDI track)
you can browse to the device and scroll through the presets.
So we know that grooves are useful for imparting a more realistic, natural,
feel to programmed tracks. We can also use them to apply the groove from one
piece of audio to another if we want to, to help them fit together better in a mix
for example. And we can use them in more unusual ways to create odd sounds
and rhythms, by using the Extract Groove command on source material that
doesnt have any normal timing or velocity, like speech, or field recordings. We
have something in our example Live set on the DVD you can try it with:

Life is Random

When programming realistic band parts, like a


finger style electric bass or a nice acoustic kit
from Lives Session Drums, Ill use grooves. Ill
start with the drum track, and edit a preset
rather than start from scratch. To create the
sound of a band playing together, Ill put the
same groove on every track. The Random control

60

The Groove
Pool Controls
When you use Alt-Cmd-G
to view the Groove Pool,
underneath the Browser,
youll also see controls
arrayed across the top of
the window. If necessary,
drag the Pool wider to
view all of the controls,
especially the important
Velocity control at the
far right.

is important if its at a decent level, you can


leave it the same for all tracks, and theyll all
fluctuate around that central point. If it doesnt
sound right, try adjusting it for individual tracks.
Grooves with unusual rhythms
Go to the audio clip called speech source and right-click on it, then choose
Extract Groove(s). Open the Groove Pool with Alt-Cmd-G and youll see the
groove in there, with the same name as the clip. Play the percussion target
clip; listen to it a few times. Now drag your new groove from the pool over, and
drop it onto the percussion clip, while its still playing. You should hear quite a
difference. Experiment with the Timing and Velocity controls to really mix in the
amount of the groove. I think that sounds quite cool! Now stop that clip running,
and launch the other MIDI clip, called synth target. This one is using a custom
Operator synth preset, where some of the controls have been configured to be
velocity sensitive 8 . The notes in the clip are very simple, so we can easily hear
the before and after effect of the groove. Drag the speech source groove onto
that clip, and again, manipulate those controls. I really like these types of
sounds; its a good way to create more unusual programmed parts.
If youre feeling really experimental, though this only works with audio clips,
use the Commit button to embed the velocity as clip automation, then select the
envelope (put your mouse near it until it highlights, right-click and choose
cut envelope) and apply it to another parameter, like transposition, or filter
frequency 9 . I get a kick out of using
speech and field recordings to redirect
the timing of other programmed or
Moving
sampled parts. I also like to experiment
Grooves
with using sounds like these to side
Between
chain a compressor on a synth track, to
Audio and
get weird and unpredictable pumping
MIDI Clips
effects. Try it you can come up with
Grooves wouldnt be so
something distinctive, that you can
useful if we couldnt
then, if necessary, dial back a bit to
move them freely between
different types of clip
make it fit alongside more regular
from audio to MIDI, or the
parts, to add some customisation
other way round. This
leads to much more
to your music. You cant use preset
organic programming in
all your life!
the first case, and more
unusual programmed-type
Whether you go practical or weird
variations in the
with grooves, its all good; theres
second case.
always something interesting to be had,
and these set ups are still easier to do
in Ableton Live than in anything else
out there.

Ableton Live | Technique

How to Apply a
Groove and
Make it Stick!

Extract a groove from any


clip, apply it to another, then
embed it permanently!

01 >

Open the example Live set on our DVD.


Right-click on the clip called source beat.
This one is a MIDI clip, but you can take
grooves from MIDI or audio clips. Choose
Extract Groove(s) from the pop-up Context
Menu there are no options, it just does it!
You might see a short progress bar.

03 >

We also have an audio clip called target beat


in the set. We need to straighten that out
before applying the new groove, and there are
two ways we can do this. The first method is to
use audio quantisation to quickly and
permanently straighten it out. Secondly, we
can use the Quantize control in the groove to
straighten it out non-destructively.

04 >

You pick how you want to do it, but either


way, apply the groove 100%. To implement
the groove, just drag it from the Pool onto
your clip. Now when you look at the Clip box
at the bottom of your screen, youll see the
Groove listed there. You can also use that list
to choose from other grooves in the Pool, or
to choose None!

05

The groove controls make a big difference particularly Velocity. Some grooves dont
sound like theyre doing anything until you
tweak this. The Quantize control we already
mentioned; Random is very useful, and
Timing blends in the amount of the grooves
timing variations. Back in that Clip box, we
can use the Commit button to permanently
embed the grooves parameters in the clip.

02 >

Now open the Groove Pool by clicking on the


little wavy icon under the Browser, or be like
the cool kids and use the keyboard shortcut
Alt-Cmd-G. Your new groove is listed in there,
identified with the name of the clip you took it
from, so ours will be called source beat.
61

MT Technique Audio & Instrument Racks

Ableton Live Become a Live Power User

UsingAudio &
Instrument Racks
New
Series
Part 5

Many people will recognise a Rack as they are used extensively in Lives library content, but
learning to build your own is essential for fluid workflow. Liam OMullane shows you how.

bleton Live has quite a few features not found


in other DAWs, and Racks is one of them. At the
most basic level, Racks are containers that
enable you to rack together MIDI, instrument
and audio devices. A Rack containing internal/
external instruments is called an Instrument Rack; a Rack
of standalone audio processing devices is an Audio Rack.
However, Racks are more than an easy way to bundle
multiple elements into one easily saveable and therefore
recallable package. Racks give you the option to run their
internal signal paths in parallel or in series, which offers a

Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD

Racksaremorethananeasy
waytobundlemultipleelements
intoasaveablepackage
FOCUS ON USING EXTERNAL HARDWARE
Lives External Audio and Instrument devices enable you to create
default presets for your outboard processors and sound sources
respectively.A sound being triggered by MIDI or passing in and out of
your computer as audio will always incur a little delay time.However,
you can offset this for instruments by setting them to play something
percussive on the beat,then enable Lives metronome and change the
Hardware Latency value to get both playing in time.This is set to
milliseconds by default but you can click the ms box to switch it to
sample increments for a higher resolution of detail.
The same technique can be applied to External Audio Effects by
playing a percussive audio clip that matches up with the metronome,
and the majority of external sources will need some housework

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huge range of options. In fact, the only real restriction you


may encounter will be maxing-out either your CPU or RAM,
but this isnt anything that any computer user hasnt had
to factor into their workflow before.
In this tutorial well be using Live-only devices that are
quite economical in terms of CPU requirements. Its only
when you start stacking large numbers of third-party,
resource-hungry instruments and effects that youll
perhaps need to be a bit more conscious about what you
use and why. If processing power does become an issue,
make use of Lives Freeze feature to render the live
processing as temporary audio. When youre ready to
commit to ideas, we encourage you to then Flatten them
into newly rendered audio files. You can then perform any
additional editing in these audio files while freeing up
computer resources (both of these functions are accessed
from the Edit menu).
Racks can be used at any point throughout the
production process, and typical uses include stacking
layers of synths for huge, epic sounds, applying go-to
parallel processing such as compression and distortion,
mid-and-side processing, and building interesting musical
tools for new ideas or exploring intricate audio-processing
chains for sound-design tasks.
As you can see, there are multiple uses for these tools
and well now go on to explain some of the most important
aspects of Rack design. If at any point you get lost or are
stuck for inspiration, we recommend that you have a look
through the Live library for Audio, Instrument and MIDI
Racks. From here its easy to explore and modify

Audio & Instrument Racks Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Audio Racks: advanced control

Create a Rack by either dragging a preset from the Live Browser


or using Group from the Edit menu when an existing instrument
or effect(s) is highlighted. Each internal audio channel called Chains
will now be visible.There will be only one by default, but more Chains
can be created by clicking in the empty space below and choosing
Create Chain or Duplicate a Chain from the Edit menu.

There are two reasons for parallel processing, the first being to
audition various approaches for processing audio.This approach
lets you try out different techniques/processors and generally explore
the possibilities for each element in your mix. Use Solo to move
between each Chain; when youve decided which treatment to go for,
delete the other Chains to avoid unnecessary processing.

Reason two is for parallel processing, with typical uses being for
compression/saturation.This is set up by keeping the first Chain
as-is and adding a second Chain to process in parallel. Chains can also
be used to split a signal into its components: by frequencies using
multiple Multiband Dynamics devices; by mid-and-side components
using the Utility devices Width control at 0% and 200% respectively.

Chains can also be used to create different sonic states to move


between, such as a lighter verse and heavier chorus treatments.
Create the two treatments, using Solo to focus on each one like before,
then open the Chain Selector Editor by clicking on the box labelled
Chain. Looking like a samplers key-range editor, this allows you to
move the assignment of each Chain to a different area horizontally.

If you move the Zone Blocks for each Chain so they arent
overlapping, the Chain Select Ruler above them (in orange) can
be moved from one sound to the next. When using Zones in this way,
effects with tails like reverb or delays will die out naturally.To blend
between the two, drag the Zone Blocks across the full range, then drag
the Fade Range shapes so they oppose each other to create the fade.

All Racks have Macro controls that you can assign most
parameters within a Rack to. If you right/[Ctrl]-click (PC/Mac) on
the Chain Selector Ruler it can be assigned to a Macro and then
assigned to a MIDI controller. Multiple assignments can be made to
one Macro, so explore different combinations of assignments, ranges
and the directions in which they move.

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Audio & Instrument Racks Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Instrument and Drum Racks

Instrument Racks work in a similar way to Audio Racks and are


useful for stacking sounds for density and depth, or setting up
different sounds to move between dynamically.To create something
big, take the same approach of using multiple Chains and layering
contrasting sounds.The MIDI Pitch device is useful here for quickly
finding the best octave or harmony for each new Chain.

Instrument Racks have more options than Audio Racks when it


comes to using Zone Blocks and fades. Use Velocity to create
layers with expressive control from a MIDI keyboard, or Key to create
tonal changes up and down the keyboard. Here weve added a bass
layer to the lower keys of a melody line; the fade enables it to blend in
at the bottom of a descending passage.

Macros can be very useful for creating consistency in an


instrument performance. For instance, if you want to use drastic
effects such as a high-pass filter that removes the bulk of the body
from a sound, you can offset any loss in presence by increasing the
volume of a Utility device as the filter cutoff is increased.

Drum Racks have the added bonus of an internal Sends and


Returns setup.This is great for achieving polished production
sounds within your Rack. First enable the Show buttons for Sends and
Returns (at the very left of the Rack). Drag the required effect to the
area labelled Drop Audio Effects Here a Send amount will appear on
the Chain List that can be used to feed the effect.

As these effects are internal, you can sub-process all your drums
as one, helping you to achieve a cohesive sound by processing
both the drums and reverb with tools like compression. If you want to
drive an effect thats already set up in Lives main Return Tracks, right/
[Ctrl]-click in an empty Chain area and select Create Return Chain.This
can then be routed to the relevant Return Track.

A hybrid approach can be used to combine steps 4 and 5 by


initially using Return Chains within the Drum Rack. When youve
decided on your choices, drag-and-drop the internal Return Chains to
the main Return Track area in Live.This wont carry across the Send
amounts, which youll have to reapply from the main Sends section of
the Drum Racks channel in Lives mixer.

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MT Tutorial Producing authentic drum & bass

Powered by

Technique Genre focus

Authentic and original


drum & bass Part2
Following on from the creation of drum beats and bass lines in Part 1, Liam OMullane turns
his attention to the vital elements of melody, atmosphere and arrangement techniques.

his second instalment builds on the knowledge


gained in Part 1 for creating original-sounding
drum & bass tracks. But while the drums and
bass are at the heart of D&B, its also important
to consider the melodic and perhaps not so
melodic parts youll need to create. Depending on the
direction you want to take your work, you may need to create
huge atmospheric soundscapes for a dark, techy, sci-fi
movie-like track; if youre creating a more musically driven
piece, you will need decorative melody information in the

Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD

Werearmingyouwiththetools
youllneedtotakecreativeideas
andmakethemworkasasong
form of arp synths, pads and so on. Even the most minimal
forms of the genre have elements that sit in the background
behind the more obvious foreground sounds, and this is
where your mixes can gain a sense of depth.
First well look at the approach (and perseverance) youll
need to take when it comes to sound-design. Using a
multi-layered approach of processing, rendering, editing,

FOCUS ON PERSEVERANCE & NEW SOUNDS


Sound-design is an integral part of D&B and there are many approaches to creating something
unique and engaging for your tracks.Although sound quality is important in all aspects of music
production,sometimes the audio quality of your source
as a trigger for heavily processed audio.In fact,itll often
youll need to take:starting with a selection of sounds,tr
applying automation and exploring whats possible.If yo
processing live and in real time you can always
swap-out the source sounds to see how they are
affected by the processing as you go.
The example audio for this tutorial employs
various stages of processing and should give you an
idea of how you can approach this technique.
Starting with a few randomly chosen bass guitar
slide samples, the source material is processed
three times to create three contrasting results.
These include a combination of reverb, saturation,
frequency-shifting and white-noise vocoding.
Certain parameters are automated and edited to try
to gain the most tonal change for each sound within
the phrase. EQ is used to re-balance the sound and
reduce unwanted frequencies, then all three results
are rendered into a new audio file to be treated as a
new source sample.This is then chopped-up and
edited into something of interest. By listening to
this audio you can hear how these techniques can
yield surprising results that are drastically different
from the source.

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reprocessing and re-editing, its important to remember that


although this may bear no fruit to begin with, pushing
forward past poor initial results is the only path to creating
something genuinely interesting. Creating perfect and
unique sounds through sound-design and mix-processing
as well as re-sampling techniques can be slow at times, so
keep an open mind as you work and be patient it can take
anything from 20 minutes to over a day of trying out ideas
until you stumble on that golden nugget!
When youve got your ideas together, start to think about
your arrangement; here well be exploring a few ways in
which you can take your ideas and work them into a playable
structure. Theres no strict form that a D&B song must take,
but do keep in mind that the majority of your audience will
hear your music in a DJ-mixing context, so its important to
make it suitable for both club and radio play as well as
maximising on the moments when the song might be
present in a mix alongside another track.
But as we stated in Part 1, were arming you with the
tools youll need to take creative ideas and make them work
as a song not how to churn out yet another bandwagonchasing club-banger. So turn on that sub, shut out the
daylight and do whatever else you need to do to get into a
creative headspace. MT
This tutorial has been endorsed by ACM, The Academy of Contemporary
Music, world leaders in music industry education. ACMs Audio Production
School provides Diploma (one-year) and Degree (two-year) courses in
Contemporary Music Production, Electronic Music Production, Creative
Sound Design and Tour Production & Management.
www acm ac uk

Producing authentic drum & bass Tutorial MT

MT Step-by-Step Decorative sounds and melodies

Depending on the vibe of your track, you can choose to fill the
background with melodic pads, pitched FX, drones, atmospheres
or a mash of the lot. Weve chosen to create a sinister pad as a tension
layer for the intro by playing discordant notes, layering sequenced
sounds underneath the louder synthetic strings (for movement) and
automating the pan position of the quieter layers for stereo interest.

For atmospheric sounds you cant go wrong with long doses of


reverb, with a mostly wet balance to achieve a diffused tone.
Anything goes for the sound source. We used pitched percussion in the
main section and a saw synth for the intro to create a huge, horn-like
sound. We automated the reverbs Freeze function to extend the tails
and changed the room size, all of which adds detail for the listener.

For radio-friendly styles, melodies usually require straightforward


synth sounds.These are readily available in many synth libraries
and can be customised through layering and editing. For deeper styles,
try working with less conventional sounds. Weve layered a blend of
bells, cowbells and claves and added a tom underneath for continuous
punch and weight throughout.

Once youve created a few background sounds, render them


down to audio for further editing.This is a simple way to create
the much-needed variation within a track and is an economical use of
the sounds youve already spent a lot of time perfecting.These can
then easily go through further generations of manipulation without
taxing your computer too much.

Stabs are useful for announcing new sections or to insert


sporadically to create tonal contrast when everything else drops
out. Stabs are easy to make as they require just a good dose of
layering, spreading of pitch and creative panning if you want stereo
width. Again, explore the most unexpected sounds in your library and
use mistuned layers to give denser, moody and less-musical tones.

As your mix builds up, use a fine-tooth-comb attitude to justify


each and every part to avoid unnecessary clutter. Remember to
replace sounds if needed as you develop the mix to give everything the
space it needs to breathe. We went through various bass sounds, kicks
and snares to maintain clarity as we developed our ideas. If it helps,
save a new project version before making drastic changes.

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MT Tutorial Producing authentic drum & bass

MT Step-by-Step Creating arrangement dynamics

When you want to develop an idea into a good 16 bars or more, a


balance between creating an interesting sonic tapestry while
being sensible about your approach needs to be struck. By this we
mean not keeping hundreds of tracks running with live effects and
automation throughout the project. When you have the sounds you
need, render them down to audio to make your project easier to handle.

Breaks and pauses are needed not only during full breakdowns.
These are great dynamic tools for momentarily throwing the flow
in a groove, creating lifts before a new section, and adding durations of
space to break up a busy track. Focus on short sections to figure out
how many elements can be removed for a drop in energy. Mute send FX
such as reverb and delay through automation to achieve digital silence.

A high-pass filter will lift the low end from single sounds, groups
or the entire mix before a new section to make it seem heavier.
This technique can also be applied to parts in full song sections to
create more space in a mix for busier sections. For example, a lead
synth might have its full frequency content allowed in a breakdown,
but is high-pass-filtered on the drop to accommodate new content.

A D&B tracks arrangement is not set in stone, but the basics of


intro, breakdown, drop, counter sections, 2nd breakdown, drop,
alternate sections and outro is a guide if youre unsure. If you make the
intro rhythmic it will be useful to a DJ for mixing, but a more important
feature is a unique sound or melody.This acts as an audible signpost
for an audience to know that your song is currently being mixed-in.

There are many ways to continue an idea after the first main
drop: exploring bass tones over time; melodic progression; drum
sound switch-ups (switching from one tone to another); stripping back
to a more sparse section or a completely different style to push the
song in an unexpected direction. Explore a few options, save them as
different projects and do some trial arrangements to see what works.

The outro serves the same purpose as the intro but in reverse.
While its tempting to simply copy and reverse the parts in the
intro, try to use it as another dynamic tool.This part of the track will be
the last piece heard as its mixed over someone elses intro, so create
excitement by using a different combination of previous parts and
re-editing or introducing a new element to sign-off with.

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How To Create A Pitch Build Effect In Ableton

Having the ability to control powerful effects during crucial moments in a set and in Ableton, setting up instrument racks of unique effects is useful both
during a show and in the studio. In todays video tutorial, Ableton Certified Trainer Lenny Kiser shares his technique for a crafting pitch build effect perfect
for modulating vocals or building up to a drop.

Tension-building effects: if used correctly they allow you to keep your audience following along with you until the end of a song. So how do you build tension
and keep the listeners interest? For me tension building can be done in a couple of ways such as a gradual move to a higher pitch, repetition of sounds and
dynamic volume shifts. Today Ill going to show you how to create a pitch build effect that incorporates these tension-building theories using the Ableton
Simple Delay.

Pitch and Tension


The answer is in the musical concept of tension and release. When something is rising in pitch, it creates a sense of dissonance and tension. This
tension leads to a desire to be resolved, coming to a place of resting and completion. Proper tension-building makes the drop feel right and helps
develop contrast and interest in your track. Tension-building can come in many forms, from subtle volume shifts to intense pitch rising effects. In
todays tutorial, Ill show you how to use the Simple Delay to create a long-delayed signal that repeats and is then pitch shifted up:
Click here to download the .ALP project file with the complete pitch shift rack.

Simple Delay Transition Modes: Repitch, Fade, Jump

Imagine you are driving a car a hundred miles an hour and then suddenly you are forced to transition down to 20 miles an hour instantly, there will
be some abrupt changes! This is similar to what happens if you change the delay time on the Simple Delay while it is processing audio. Essentially
it will cause some abrupt changes to the delayed signal. The Simple Delay has three transition modes for how it switches between these changes
in delay time (accessed by control clicking on the Simple Delay device title bar):
Re-pitch: This causes a pitch variation to the delayed signal and is the main component of creating this effect!
Fade: Creates a smooth crossfade between the delay time changes.
Jump: Jumps directly to the next delay time value and is more abrupt which may cause pops and clicks.
For this effect we want to choose Repitch so that when we gradually change the delay time it will create a pitch rising effect.

Additional parameters that need adjusting on Simple Delay:


Feedback: The Feedback percentage controls how much of the delayed signal is fed back into the delay unit itself. I think of this as controlling the
amount of delayed repetitions that will take place. Higher values equal longer delay times and longer effect tails to work with.
Link and Beat Offset %: The link button links the delay times of the left and right channels to be the same. For this effect, link the channels to
control one delay time for both channels. The beat offset percentage allows you to shift your delayed signal away from the original so it is not
perfectly in time. I normally use this for creating swung delays or grooves with drums. For this effect the beat offset % will adjust the delay time and
since we have it in Repitch mode this will cause the pitch shifting effect on the delayed signal.
Sync: This parameter causes the delayed signal to either be synced to the project tempo or free from it. For this effect we will be using sync.

Automating the Return Track

Automation is a necessary function to keep things moving and interesting in your production. Things will get even more interesting when the effects
on the return tracks are automated. Start by sending some signal to the return track in a buildup section. Next, automate the delay time or (Speed
Macro) on the simple delay to create this pitch rising effect.

Live Vocal Effects Method


To use this effect in a live situation (it works especially well with vocals) do the following:
Create a new audio track with your microphone signal routed into it and place the pitch build effect on that channel directly.
Map a controller button to the device activator.
Keep the effect off and then turn it on as you say a word that you want to be repeated through the effect. The device activator in this case is
essentially used as a button to sample a word or phrase into the effect by turning it on.
Once youve said the word use the Speed control knob to increase the pitch.
Modulate any other effects post the delay for more interest.

Other Devices To Use With This Effect

This pitch-rise effect can be taken one step further by adding some other processing devices. Here are some of the devices I use after this effect:
Utility device: To makeup for lost volume and create dynamic volume increases to maximize tension.
Sidechain Compressor: Have the sidechain compressor only turn on when the drop hits so the effect pumps when the kick and bass come in!
Limiter: Place a limiter at the end of the chain to protect from overloading the channel with high feedback levels and volume.
Frequency Shifter: Not enough pitch rising? Automate the frequency shifter to keep the pitch going up!
Filtering: Removing frequencies with filtering can add to the tension of this effect and also create an uplifting feeling.
Reverb: To add space, depth and dimension.
Performing music live is about the journey that you take the listener on and pitch buildup effects like this one will be one sure way to keep the
listener interested and take your audience for a ride.

Preparing a Custom Live Music Performance Setup


Technology for real-time electronic music performance has seen significant progress in the last decade.
Flexible non-linear digital audio workstations like Ableton Live combined with plug and play hardware
control offer remarkable potential for streamlined access to
the stage and direct connection to fans and audiences.
Despite the fact that all of this is more accessible than ever,
creating unique personalized setups can still be challenging.
With so many choices available, and with add-ons like Max
for Live and Reaktor, the possibilities are truly endless. Its
extremely easy to get lost dreaming up what could be while
experimenting with infinite possibilities, rather than
accomplishing what we initially set out to do... perform!

"Creating unique personalized setups can be challenging with so many choices available
and with add-ons like Max for Live and Reaktor, the possibilities are truly endless."
Where to start?
To create a setup that is tailored to meet your individual artistic needs, I recommend beginning with a proper brainstorming
session. Personally, I find it useful to get out from behind the computer, with some good old fashioned paper and a pencil, and
start scratching out lists and diagrams. Solidify ideas by asking relevant questions that define a specific plan of attack and help
prioritize what is most substantial. Both technical and aesthetic considerations are important as one side often influences the
other.
What you learn from this exercise will assist keeping you on track, focused, organized, and directed. Its important to note, once
you start implementing your ideas, anything not on the list should be considered a distraction from your true mission. If you
really believe something needs to be included, go back to the list and re-prioritize to account for the addition.

Below are a few preliminary thoughts to ponder at this stage:

What is the purpose of my performance (Solo Instrumentalist, DJ set, Live Remixing, Audio/Visual Instrument,
Acousmatic presentation, etc.)?
What is my models primary function? Is it an instrument, an effects processor, an interactive system, a playback
device or is it a hybrid combination?
If it is a combination of various elements, which of these are highest and lowest in importance and priority? Which
of these tasks require the most resources and how might this play into how I have prioritized?
What do I want to be doing during any given point in my performance? Equally important, what do I NOT want to be
doing?
What aspects of my setup are most important and which are least important? What is essential and, if push comes
to shove, what am I willing to sacrifice or compromise?
How do I envision myself as a performer? Does my rig allow for this? If not, how can it be modified to meet my
needs?
How much of my set will be predetermined and how much will be improvised (very important!)?
Who is my intended audience? (If its of significance) how entertaining and/or engaging will my performance be and
how will it stand up under various conditions?
What types of environments will I be playing in? What types of situations or locations will my setup be affected,
enhanced or limited by?

The process at this stage is much like writing an essay. Define a thesis or topic, add supporting details and discard ideas that
are irrelevant. The more complete an outline you create, the easier it will be stay on target.

"Remember to try and keep your ideas honed, simple and concise and
avoid!paradoxical!and contradictory concepts."

Think about the overall main idea first and


determine how this will work in conjunction
with smaller sub-sections. Remember to try
and keep your ideas honed, simple and
concise and avoid paradoxical and
contradictory concepts. For example, its not
feasible to expect to run a multitude of virtual
instruments and processor-hungry plug-ins
simultaneously and still be able to keep your
buffer low enough to avoid latency when
running inputs through your software
(although, this is one of the most encountered
issues in a majority of my clients setups!)

To illustrate what your brainstorm might look like. The following example
demonstrates some preliminarily considerations for a solo live performance setup.
Every model should have a somewhat different
set of priorities based upon unique criterion. As
my role changes, so does my focus and my
performance systems layout. I recommend
avoiding the idea of an all purpose performance
setup that is capable of anything at anytime. Like
most fine things in life, custom fit means its
unique and tailored to meet specific needs for
specific situations. Im not necessarily suggesting
that youll need to build everything from the
ground up each time you perform, but it is a great
idea to consider whether or not your setup might
benefit from modification or additional fine tuning
before the next gig.I recommend avoiding the
idea of an 'all purpose' performance setup that is
capable of anything at anytime.There are some
well designed templates floating around the
internet for Live performance and DJing. These
can be great jumping off points for creating
custom rigs and it is amazing how much you can
learn from backwards engineering.As you
brainstorm, watch videos and read articles to help
get ideas and inspiration, investigate how other
artists with similar performance styles are
approaching their setups and consider which
aspects are similar and dissimilar to your
own.Most importantly, do not settle on a
performance dynamic simply because you feel
limited by the technology you are using. Creativity
is the hub of great invention and invention is
realized by first knowing what you want, devising
a well designed plan, and putting it into action.

Technique | Ableton Live

Ableton Live
Using Hardware
Synths
Ableton Live excels at connecting to the real world
to the hardware synths, samplers, and effects,
that live in your studio. Martin Delaney shows you
how easy it is to get hooked up

he synthesizer is one of the cornerstones of electronic music that


and the sampler. Oh, and the sequencer. Oh well, moving on
Everybody needs more than one synth. Its like guitars: each one
has a different sound, a different interface that leads you in new
directions, or just a different vibe. Some people use hardware
synths, some try to keep it in the box and use software synths
exclusively. Most of us are in the middle ground we want the convenience and
mobility of software synths, but from time to time we also crave the real world
experience of tapping on some keys and twisting a pot or two. A collection of
synths expands your range of sounds, and creates a different texture than youd
get if you used one instrument all the time, even with different sounds and
presets. Hardware synths expand on this more by giving us the instrument vibe
we experience with other types of keyboard, guitars, drums, violins, and so on.

One way or another


Sooner or later you will want to connect a hardware synth to your computer. If
not your own, you may be working with someone who uses synths, or you may be
running a studio and your client has one. Ableton Live is the best tool around for
this, it does a fantastic job of sitting at the heart of any routing set-up, in the
studio, or in live performance. Routing in Live achieves the feat of being easy to
configure, without sacrificing anything in the feature department 1 .
How you go about connecting your synth will depend mostly on its vintage,
but not exclusively. The earliest synths used CV and Gate communication to talk
to each other. You could use the Roland TB-303 (outputs only) 2 and original
Korg MS-20 as examples. After the introduction of MIDI, most hardware used
MIDI to communicate look at the Yamaha AN1x or, even earlier on, the
Sequential Circuits Prophet 600. MIDI worked so well, and has been so durable,
because there was a strict standard at work, and although there have been
tweaks along the way, by various manufacturers, its never degenerated into a
VHS vs Betamax-style format war. And more recently, most synths include a
USB connection alongside or instead of the regular MIDI port (theyre still
sending MIDI, just over a different cable): check out the Roland SH-01 or,
coincidentally, Korgs new updated take on the MS-20. The exceptions to this
timeline are some modern analogue synths which are sometimes built according
to the original techniques, and MIDI is not included. All of these methods of
connection are still viable. As I mention over the page, a simple MIDI-to-CV
converter will let you include CV/Gate in a modern rig. Kenton are leaders in this

62

The Expert
Martin Delaney,
Performer, Producer
Artist and
instructor
Martin, aka
mindlobster,
has produced Live
training material and
was one of the UKs
first certified Ableton
Live trainers.

field, and they now make a USB-MIDI-to-CV


converter, to keep things right up to date! If
your synth fits in our middle period, and
has the standard MIDI in and out jacks, and
ideally, MIDI through as well, then you can
connect by using either a MIDI-to-USB
cable, or using a MIDI cable to connect
your synth direct to the MIDI connections
on your soundcard, if it has them.

Track Freezing

You may want to play back


your project correctly when
your hardware synth isnt
connected laptop users
are likely to run into this.
Freeze track to the rescue:
right-click on the MIDI
track and choose Freeze,
which creates a temporary
audio file version of your
MIDI track. The difference
this time is that Live has
to play through the track
in real time before it can
complete the Freeze
operation. To make this
change permanent, rightclick on the track again
and choose Flatten.
Too much USB

Synths that have USB are the easiest of all,


although ideally your synth would have USB
and MIDI connections, so you have more flexibility. One problem with depending
on USB for your connections is that you quickly run out of USB ports to connect
to! Sometimes a USB hub will bail you out, but some hardware just doesnt like
being connected to a hub, even if its a mains-powered hub. This is a real
consideration these days when Im looking at new hardware. Audio connections
are more straightforward its going to be line out from your synth to your
soundcard 3 , or possibly audio is travelling with MIDI through the USB
connection as well. Even if your synth does USB audio, try it with the cable
option as well. Sometimes I prefer the sound of regular audio cables over USB.
Thats just my unsubstantiated opinion, and a lot of it will depend on the quality
of your soundcard, but I suggest you try it.
Thats the hardware connections out of the way. Then were back on familiar
territory inside Live. Youll need to configure your MIDI and audio inputs and
outputs in Preferences 4 , then add a MIDI track, and well, read our
walkthrough! We could achieve the same results using separate MIDI out and
audio in tracks, but the External Instrument Device makes it much cleaner
visually, and even more importantly, makes it a recallable operation, especially
when included in an instrument rack your hardware starts to look like a plug-in
on screen! 5 This means that you can create a MIDI clip and send your notes
out to the synth just like with any software instrument 6 .

Notes plus
Its not just about notes. You can send any MIDI messages that your synth is
able to receive, such as pitch bend, modulation, program and bank changes,
and any other relevant CC messages, thanks to clip envelopes 7 . You can also

Ableton Live | Technique

One Way Or Another

>
>

Too Much USB

Notes Plus

>

The Effect Treatment

>

10

VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD

63

Technique | Ableton Live

apply Lives MIDI effects to the track;


once again, its just like working with
any software instrument. Check your
synths manual to find out which
messages it will receive. Most manuals
are online now, so if Im wondering
about a particular piece of hardware,
Ill grab the manual and read the MIDI
info. And after shopping, I keep the
PDF manuals on my computer and
iPad, so theyre always to hand during
sessions. Another benefit of PDF
manuals is that theyre searchable!
The audio comes back into the
same track that the MIDI is leaving,
thanks to some neat routing from
Ableton. This is a great way to organise
your hardware for performance, but if
you want to record the incoming audio,
youll have to set up another audio
track, and record into that one, either
directly from your audio input 8 , or by
using the In/Out View to route audio
out from your MIDI track into the
recording track. You can also Freeze and Flatten the MIDI track, to permanently
print those synth parts to audio files. This works in the usual way, but it takes
longer because Live has to play through the song in real time to capture the
audio 9 . You can add any of Lives audio effect devices, or third-party plug-ins,
to the track, to expand on the synths original array of effects. An interesting
development with synths that connect through USB is that they usually have
some kind of supporting plug-in or standalone editor that gives you access to
their deeper features and preset management, directly from the computer. Vyzex
have produced a few of these editors for different hardware synths, including the
Dave Smith Instruments Evolver, and M-Audios Venom synth. The Venom editor
is particularly useful, because the control panel on the actual synth is so bare!

Versatile boxes
Control issues get interesting in other ways, too. Once your synth is hooked up,
you can play it from another connected keyboard, or even the Live Virtual MIDI
Keyboard the computer keyboard, in other words. You could use the knobs and
faders on a MIDI hardware controller to reach out to your synth. A lot of modern
synths also send MIDI out from their controls, so you can use it as a hardware
control surface for Live; very versatile. A modern synth can be a soundcard, a
controller, even an audio processor, if it lets you run external audio signals
through its onboard effects some of those synths have fantastic filters! Where
this will go in the future, nobody can say, but it looks like things are pretty

64

MIDI-to-CV
Converters
There are older, analogue,
synths out there, that
pre-date MIDI (the MIDI
spec was published in
1983). Before that, CV/
Gate signals were used for
communication between
hardware. Companies like
Kenton still produce
MIDI-to-CV converters,
meaning you can include
analogue gear in your
digital rig.

healthy for hardware synths, even with all the great software examples. The iPad
is getting called on more as a control surface for them, and perhaps soon well
see wireless connectivity become common. What I really want every synth to
come with is a plug-in editor that runs as an AU or VST inside Live that would
be a real boost to the workflow.

Sounds On Demand

There is deeper integration available. An obvious


one to start with is getting Live to tell the synth
to load specific sounds on demand as you
launch the clip that needs the sound. This is
quite easy to do, although youll probably need
the synths manual handy! Make a MIDI clip if
you dont have one already, and go to the Notes
box. There youll see choosers where you can
enter Program, Sub Bank, or Bank changes,
which are sent when the clip is launched. Refer
to your synth manual to find out which messages
you need to send.
Soft Synths

The effect treatment

If you dont own any


hardware synths, none of
this concerns you much,
unless you work with
somebody who does use
them. Software synths are
so advanced now that
hardware models arent
the essentials they used
to be. A soft synth and
a controller might do
the job!

One last thing Most of what were


talking about goes for hardware effects
units as well. Look under Lives Audio
Effects category in the Browser, and
youll see the External Audio Effect
Device 10. This device routes audio
to and from your hardware, but you
could also send MIDI from a separate
track to load patches or change
parameters on the hardware. You may
or may not be a synth-head, and
truthfully Im not, but everybody should
have a couple of nice pieces to expand
on their sounds and create a different
mood and Live will make this as
seamless as possible.

Ableton Live | Technique

Hook Up Your
Favourite Synth
To Live

Get your synthesizer working


with Live, receiving MIDI, and
sending audio back in

01 >

Connect your synth to your computer; how you


do it depends on what connections your synth
has. If its a relatively recent one, it probably
has a USB connection, which makes things
easy, handling audio and MIDI with one wire.
For older hardware, with MIDI ports, youll
need either a MIDI-USB cable, or MIDI cables
into your audio interface, as well as connecting
the synths stereo outputs to your soundcard.

02 >

Once youve connected everything, launch


Live and open Preferences. Under the Audio
tab, make sure youve enabled the soundcard
inputs that youve connected your synths
outputs to. Under the MIDI Sync tab, select
your MIDI adaptor or interface ports as MIDI
Output destinations. Turn on Track and
Remote, and Sync, if you want to sync your
synth to Lives project tempo.

03 >

Create a new MIDI track in your Live set. Go


to the Browser, and from the Instruments
category, drag the External Instrument Device
onto the track. The MIDI To and Audio From
pop-ups will show the audio and MIDI
connections you just made in Preferences, so
choose them. You dont need to configure the
track inputs because the device does it all.

04 >

Play a few notes on your synth, and you


should hear its output coming back through
the track in Live. Draw a MIDI clip in the
track, with some notes, and they should
trigger the synth as well, with the audio
coming back in. Its like a hardware plug-in!
You can even use Lives virtual MIDI
keyboard (the computer keyboard) to play
the synth.

05 >

Now have fun


applying Lives MIDI
and audio effects to
the synth! This is
good for playback,
but to record the
incoming audio, you
still need to set up
an audio track, just
like recording from
any other source.
Once you get a
set-up you like, save
it as a preset so you
can recall it quickly
in future projects.

65

Technique | Ableton Live

Ableton Live
Using Groove
Templates
Sometimes the robot is good, sometimes the robot
is bad Martin Delaney shows you how to borrow
some bounce from one place and use it somewhere
else, for some practical or weird effects!

ll of the major DAWs Cubase, Logic, Reason, and of course


Live have ways to apply groove templates; adding timing or
velocity variations that impart a more human feel to programmed
music. This goes back further than your computer, to machines
like the Akai MPC and Yamaha QY700. Its a desirable thing in
MIDI sequencing, just like we need quantisation theyre both
fundamental ways of adding a real-time feel to music thats been drawn in with
a pencil or tapped in on a keyboard, instead of being played on a real
instrument. Groove templates are simply a format used to store and recall this
information, for use in other tracks, or other projects. Electronic music being the
ever-changing beast that it is, sometimes we want more humanity, sometimes
less, and quite often inside the same song!

The way of the groove Live style


Every DAW implements this differently. As far as Lives concerned, a groove
combines two types of information: timing when the notes happen, compared
against a grid of bars/beats/fractions of beats; and velocity how hard the note
is being triggered, using standard MIDI velocity measurements to reproduce this
part of a performance. Nobody can play every note with exactly the same
velocity, so this is an important part of the sonic signature, even if the
variations are quite subtle.
Live grooves are kept inside the default Library, and any that we create are
contained in the User Library. You can find them through the Browser, either by
navigating to them directly (theyre in Packs/Swing and Groove 1 ) or by using
the search function Cmd-F. To apply a groove, all you have to do is drag it onto a
clip in your Live set, in either Session or Arrangement View grooves are
clip-specific, they dont apply across an entire track. After youve added a groove
to your set, you can view it in the Clip box at the bottom left of the screen;
theres a little pop-up box called Grooves 2 . If youve got more than one groove
in your project, you can view and load all of them from here. Actually, you can
also use the hot-swap button next to the word Groove there to view the grooves
in the Browser they end with .agr. Open the Groove Pool by clicking on the
small wavy icon under the Browser, and you will see the controls for the grooves.
Here you can fine-tune them to suit your specific material, and this is usually a
good idea. There are separate controls for each groove that you load, for even
more flexibility. After making changes to a groove, you can use the save button
in the Pool to put it in the user library, and rename it if you want to.

58

For many situations, the library grooves


will contain something that you can use;
theres a lot of them in there, you know. But
if youre matching something from an
outside source, or you have for instance a
drum sample which has a groove that you
absolutely must have, you can steal the
groove from that. To do this you right-click
on the clip you want to take from, and
choose Extract Groove(s) 3 . This will then
put it in the Groove Pool, and you can work
with it just like any other groove. The ability
to extract and modify the groove from a
piece of music fits right in there with some
of Lives other tools, especially the Slice to
New MIDI Track command. These are ways
that you can take what you want from the
character of another tune, ditching whatever
doesnt fit with your master plan along the
way. Bad news for users of Live Lite or Live
Intro those slimmed down versions will let
you load grooves, but not edit them.

Groove Management

Once youve created your


ideal groove, save it into
the Library by clicking the
The Expert
Save Preset button. By
Martin Delaney,
default this goes into the
Performer, Producer
Artist and
Grooves folder, accessible
instructor
Martin, aka
from Places in the Browser
mindlobster,
Sidebar the left-hand
has produced Live
training material and
column; you can rename,
was one of the UKs
first certified Ableton
move, or delete these. You
Live trainers.
can share or archive them,
as well, either by saving or
sharing a Live project that contains your groove/s,
or by finding the groove in your User Library
folder in the default Live location, and dragging
them onto a USB drive, or into an email.
Going deeper with the groove
The Groove Pool also features a Global Amount control, at the bottom right 4 .
You can use it to change the depth of the groove effect across all of the clips in
your project. This ranges from 0% to 130%, so you can push the groove up
beyond its original application. When youve got grooves applied to clips in your
set, this control also appears at the top of the Live screen, in the Control Bar 5 .
You might be wondering if you can exchange groove templates between
different DAWs, and I was wondering about this too; I tried. The answer is no.
Theres no common shared format for these; you would have to do it by creating
and exporting MIDI files that contained the information. Even without saving
them in the User Library, you can move them between projects using the
Browser. Navigate to the project containing the grooves youre after, and unfold
it, just as you do to see tracks and clips inside it. Open the Grooves folder and
pull out the grooves into your new set 6 .
For Push users, we cant view the Groove Pool controls in the LCD screen,
and we cant browse and load grooves, but we can use the Swing knob on Push,
in conjunction with the Quantize button this isnt connected to Lives global
groove, or to localised grooves from the Pool. For other hardware controllers,
theres no way to MIDI map those groove controls.

Ableton Live | Technique

The Way of The


Groove Live Style

Going Deeper With


The Groove

Alternative Velocities

>
>

Grooves With
Unusual Rhythms

>
8

>

VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD

59

Technique | Ableton Live

Alternative velocities
Sometimes you want to work with
only the velocities, and leave the note
timings alone. You can do this in the
Groove Pool controls, by using the
Timing and Random controls to
straighten them out, and just
manipulating the Velocity settings.
You can also do it by avoiding grooves
altogether, and using Lives native
Velocity MIDI effect device. Just add
it to your MIDI track and you can use
it to limit or expand the velocity
ranges in your track. This is different
than using a groove, mainly because
it applies to the entire track, and as I
said, its going to affect only the note
velocities. Like Lives other MIDI
effects, this can be used as a
real-time effect, applied to incoming
MIDI messages from a keyboard,
drum pads, hardware, or other software 7 . For some programming situations, I
prefer to hear slight, randomised, velocity changes, but to keep the note timing
tight and quantised. The Velocity effect can be loaded from, and controlled by,
Push; hold down Shift and add device, and (as long as youre in a MIDI track)
you can browse to the device and scroll through the presets.
So we know that grooves are useful for imparting a more realistic, natural,
feel to programmed tracks. We can also use them to apply the groove from one
piece of audio to another if we want to, to help them fit together better in a mix
for example. And we can use them in more unusual ways to create odd sounds
and rhythms, by using the Extract Groove command on source material that
doesnt have any normal timing or velocity, like speech, or field recordings. We
have something in our example Live set on the DVD you can try it with:

Life is Random

When programming realistic band parts, like a


finger style electric bass or a nice acoustic kit
from Lives Session Drums, Ill use grooves. Ill
start with the drum track, and edit a preset
rather than start from scratch. To create the
sound of a band playing together, Ill put the
same groove on every track. The Random control

60

The Groove
Pool Controls
When you use Alt-Cmd-G
to view the Groove Pool,
underneath the Browser,
youll also see controls
arrayed across the top of
the window. If necessary,
drag the Pool wider to
view all of the controls,
especially the important
Velocity control at the
far right.

is important if its at a decent level, you can


leave it the same for all tracks, and theyll all
fluctuate around that central point. If it doesnt
sound right, try adjusting it for individual tracks.
Grooves with unusual rhythms
Go to the audio clip called speech source and right-click on it, then choose
Extract Groove(s). Open the Groove Pool with Alt-Cmd-G and youll see the
groove in there, with the same name as the clip. Play the percussion target
clip; listen to it a few times. Now drag your new groove from the pool over, and
drop it onto the percussion clip, while its still playing. You should hear quite a
difference. Experiment with the Timing and Velocity controls to really mix in the
amount of the groove. I think that sounds quite cool! Now stop that clip running,
and launch the other MIDI clip, called synth target. This one is using a custom
Operator synth preset, where some of the controls have been configured to be
velocity sensitive 8 . The notes in the clip are very simple, so we can easily hear
the before and after effect of the groove. Drag the speech source groove onto
that clip, and again, manipulate those controls. I really like these types of
sounds; its a good way to create more unusual programmed parts.
If youre feeling really experimental, though this only works with audio clips,
use the Commit button to embed the velocity as clip automation, then select the
envelope (put your mouse near it until it highlights, right-click and choose
cut envelope) and apply it to another parameter, like transposition, or filter
frequency 9 . I get a kick out of using
speech and field recordings to redirect
the timing of other programmed or
Moving
sampled parts. I also like to experiment
Grooves
with using sounds like these to side
Between
chain a compressor on a synth track, to
Audio and
get weird and unpredictable pumping
MIDI Clips
effects. Try it you can come up with
Grooves wouldnt be so
something distinctive, that you can
useful if we couldnt
then, if necessary, dial back a bit to
move them freely between
different types of clip
make it fit alongside more regular
from audio to MIDI, or the
parts, to add some customisation
other way round. This
leads to much more
to your music. You cant use preset
organic programming in
all your life!
the first case, and more
unusual programmed-type
Whether you go practical or weird
variations in the
with grooves, its all good; theres
second case.
always something interesting to be had,
and these set ups are still easier to do
in Ableton Live than in anything else
out there.

Ableton Live | Technique

How to Apply a
Groove and
Make it Stick!

Extract a groove from any


clip, apply it to another, then
embed it permanently!

01 >

Open the example Live set on our DVD.


Right-click on the clip called source beat.
This one is a MIDI clip, but you can take
grooves from MIDI or audio clips. Choose
Extract Groove(s) from the pop-up Context
Menu there are no options, it just does it!
You might see a short progress bar.

03 >

We also have an audio clip called target beat


in the set. We need to straighten that out
before applying the new groove, and there are
two ways we can do this. The first method is to
use audio quantisation to quickly and
permanently straighten it out. Secondly, we
can use the Quantize control in the groove to
straighten it out non-destructively.

04 >

You pick how you want to do it, but either


way, apply the groove 100%. To implement
the groove, just drag it from the Pool onto
your clip. Now when you look at the Clip box
at the bottom of your screen, youll see the
Groove listed there. You can also use that list
to choose from other grooves in the Pool, or
to choose None!

05

The groove controls make a big difference particularly Velocity. Some grooves dont
sound like theyre doing anything until you
tweak this. The Quantize control we already
mentioned; Random is very useful, and
Timing blends in the amount of the grooves
timing variations. Back in that Clip box, we
can use the Commit button to permanently
embed the grooves parameters in the clip.

02 >

Now open the Groove Pool by clicking on the


little wavy icon under the Browser, or be like
the cool kids and use the keyboard shortcut
Alt-Cmd-G. Your new groove is listed in there,
identified with the name of the clip you took it
from, so ours will be called source beat.
61

MTF Technique A track from scratch part 2: Dubstep beats

Technique A track from scratch: Part 2

Dubstep beats
Following on from the building blocks for bass design within the harder side of dubstep,
Liam OMullane and Christopher Pearson now delve into the art of programming and
producing drum sounds that tick all the boxes for the genre.

f youve absorbed the first part in this series (over the


previous pages) you should be joining us with a solid
bass idea, or at least a good starting point to tweak
later. This may still need a bit of work but, as youll see,
when it comes to drum design and programming, the
groove aspects of both drums and bass can now intertwine
and move forward together, inspiring each other as you go.
In this instalment well explore the use of drum
synthesis, sampling, ambience, groove, quantization and the
hows and whys of each. Weve chosen to delve a little bit
deeper into the actual design of drums for this tutorial, so
youll soon be armed with more than just the simple skills of
grabbing the same, commonly used samples that many
aspiring producers reach for today. Creating your own
drum sounds is not only satisfying, it can also be the

On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the DVD

Soon youll have more


than just the basic skills
of grabbing commonly
used samples

perfect ingredient to inspire a track to be taken into a


unique direction.
Our own project drum sounds make use of a variety of
techniques simultaneously: acoustic-based drum samples
with FXpansions BFD3, and home-made, synthetic drums
using FXpansions Tremor for some simple physical
modelling techniques. These first two techniques give us a
contrast of sounds to mix due to their opposing approaches
of being acoustically and synthetically rooted, respectively.
These techniques can, of course, be achieved through the
careful use of samples, but weve chosen to use sources
that give us more flexibility over dynamics and tonal
shaping if its needed later in the mix.

Let there be drums


Although the blind pursuit of searching for drum samples
can be a fruitful event for inspiration, it can be difficult to
understand what and why you should choose unless you
have grasped the basic aesthetics of dubstep drum
production. You first need to have an idea of the drums role:
will they be a lead element, standing forward in your mix
and providing constant interest; or will they serve as a
backing track to support a leading bass or melodic line?
These types of questions need to be addressed in your
choice of both sound source and programming

FOCUS ON...GUIDE DRUMS

Like our bass elements from the first part in this series, individual drum sounds also benefit
from being grouped to a single channel and being processed as a unit.
This is the point when you might insert various
processing devices to add character to
all drum elements as a whole, which in
turn helps them stand apart from the
other mix elements. It could simply be
a case of inserting an EQ, saturation or
compression device, as long as it can
unify the group as a whole by adding
some form of unique tone. For instance,
we did try to use compression to glue
our elements together but this
suffocated the group, making it feel a
little lifeless and over compressed. So
after a bit of trial and error (which we
cant encourage enough) we settled on
using a combination of two EQs,
specifically for colour, which then ran
through a shaping device to smooth out
the harsh transients, rather than
enhance them.
After using the Dangerous BAX EQ
and Maag EQ4 plug-ins to add some
colour to our drums, the Transient
Master by Native Instruments
enabled us to soften any harsh
transients. At the end of this
processing chain weve added a
limiter, which is just tickling the signal
with a few decibels of reduction to
keep dynamics options open for the
mixing stage.

78 | Ableton Live 2015

MT137.tut genre pt2.indd 78

FOCUS

11/02/2015 14:26

A track from scratch part 2: Dubstep beats Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step Synthetic kick drum design

The first element we usually deal with when synthesising a kick drum for
dubstep is the fundamental impact sound. This will involve an oscillator
having an immediate and severe drop in pitch created by an envelope. The main
oscillator should be fairly clean unless you want to go into a more hard-style tone
of kick, so sine and triangle waves are commonplace here. For more knock, start
the kick at a higher pitch before its descent or add curve to the envelope.

01

To give a good push-and-pull groove to your drum sound, group all


elements except for the kick and snare. Set a compressor on this group to
listen to the kick and snare on its side-chain so all surrounding sounds
duck when these two play. The groove can be shaped using the
compressors attack and release times.

techniques. For instance, if the lead instrument is to be


quite frantic and given the limelight in your track, the drums
need to provide space by being made sparse and infrequent
in events, ensuring theres a focus of power in the right
frequencies rather than overcrowding the mix with details.
Alternatively, when using a more minimal bass section such
as a dub-like sub or less manic-sounding synthesis for the
bassline this opens up the opportunity to be more detailed,
and driving rhythms and sounds can be explored.
During our initial bass-design stage, guide drums were
thrown into the project using a simple break sample or two

You need to have an


idea of the drums role:
will they be a lead
element or backing?

With the weight aspect of your kick taken care of its time to consider adding
some character. As it is, this kick can be given a more rounded tone by
carefully increasing the attack time on the amp envelope. Alternatively you can
add a tiny snippet of noise or distortion, or a fraction of a bright sample at the
start to give it a more aggressive tone, adding more bite to the front end.

02

to help guide our bass creation process and govern an


initial vibe. We needed something to give us a very simple
part that wasnt precious. If these drums didnt fit how the
bass was starting to sound, it didnt matter, we hadnt spent
countless hours creating and processing drums that
couldve been wasted due to the bass creation taking us
down other paths. Now we have our outlined bass, we can
start to build our drum section to fit the projects more
focused direction.

The science part


Regardless of the style of drum sounds you have in mind for
your project, each individual drum element can be thought
of and broken down into stages. Lets think about the
physics of hitting an object and how each stage affects the
next. Firstly were hitting a surface with a stick or a brush,

If your track is going to be quite sparse youll have more room in the mix to
make each sound big and interesting, and this is where you can be quite
experimental and give your kick a unique body tone (as long as you use EQ
shaping to keep this new sound in balance with your track). Various sounds such
as toms, gated reverb tails, etc, can be used to give your kick a tone to set it apart
from the stock 909 kick thats too commonplace. Moderation is advised.

03

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015

MT137.tut genre pt2.indd 79

| 79

11/02/2015 14:26

MTF Technique A track from scratch part 2: Dubstep beats

MTF Step-by-Step Synthetic snare drum design

For variation, rather than programming fills dont forget that effect
processing can also be quite useful too. Weve made good use of
low-pass filtering to create the odd spot of variation at the end of a
musical phrase before a new section begins. Just program or record
a filter sweep to minimise the drum sound so it has more impact
when coming back in.

the skin then vibrates, firing part of the sound into the
air whilst the rest reverberates internally to its shell and
casing dependant on its material, stiffness, mass and
volume. All of this then radiates out into the room,
which creates yet another reverberation. Were not
expecting you to get too scientific here, but creating
drums with these factors in mind can help you produce
very rich, deep and more natural sounds.
In our example the two synthesized hits for kick
and snare are intended to represent the first impact
strike or transient of a drums surface along with a little
of its own ambience. As were working with electronic
music its actually preferential to use something
synthetic in nature for this initial transient hit as it
keeps it pure, clear and up front. Their fundamental
pitch will trend towards lower frequencies because
our bass is full in frequency content and occupies much
of the higher register. This means the only real

Creating drums with


these factors in mind
can help you produce
rich, deep sounds
prominent mix space available is around the lower
mids, around 100-300Hz.
Although weve chosen BFD3 for our tonal and
ambient layers you can continue with synthesis or
break samples to complete your drum tones, though the
former is beyond the scope of this tutorial. We shaped
our acoustic drum sound in BFD3 by bringing forward
the ambient mics and utilising their width and contrast
with the synth layers to fill the stereo field. Weve
tightened the body mic sounds with amp envelopes and
tuned them by ear to help them gel with the synth
layers. The body mics have been tightened with
amplitude envelopes and tuned to be more ear-pleasing
when layered over the synths. Similar tightening can be
achieved through synth envelopes or careful volume
control of samples.
To reiterate here, in this particular genre a note of
importance is that anything too high-frequency-based
in the main drum hits may get lost in the mix due to
being masked by our synth basses. Something to keep
in mind for the mixing stage later down the line!
Finally, to mimic the natural ambience from the skin
and the shell of a drum in a real room, add a very short

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Like the Kick Drum Design example, its usual to start designing a snare from its
impact sound onwards. This will hit higher in the frequency register from around
180Hz to 250Hz. A good trick to get a nice ping here is to set the pitch of a higher, tonal
layer to ascend so the pitch goes upwards when the impact goes down.

01

The impact noise aspect of the snare itself can come from a noise oscillator by
adding ring modulation or distortion to an existing synth hit, or by using a
sampled snare sound, then high-pass it so any lower frequencies dont clash with
your existing impact sound. A classic drum machine sound can also be achieved using
white noise samples. But however you add noise keep a close eye on your envelope
duration (so its a tight impact sound), and on the top end (to avoid harshness).

02

When working with a sparser drum track like our own, a long noise source can
create a huge ambient type of sound when thinned out with a high-pass filter to
avoid any mid-range clutter. Again, white noise can work, but more tone can come
from using an open hi-hat, cymbal crash, ride or even adding a large reverb tail to a
trigger sound.

03

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A track from scratch part 2: Dubstep beats Technique MTF

FOCUS ON...PERCUSSION TRICKS

In most cases, percussion leans towards being


used for creating fills and phrase endings in the
harder side of dubstep rather than being a
constant element used to drive the rhythm
section forward.
This is mainly down to the fact that basslines,
especially in our example track, tend to be
all-consuming in respect to the frequency range
used and how rhythmical they can be. You could, in
fact, say that bass can take on the roll of
percussion in this genre!
But percussion, when used wisely, can fill out
any uncomfortable gaps in bass or melody parts
and help fill the space with new points of interest
and tonal dynamics. Your choice of percussion is
quite open and can be made from any source, so a
healthy amount of experimentation in this area is
always advisable.
That said, dynamic elements can also be born
from the use of empty space. This too can help to
feed the feel and groove of your track. Sometimes
the music just needs to breathe, and silence can be
golden in these circumstances.
Even using rhythmic tools such as a tremolo
device on non-drum elements in your track can be a
percussive tool. Here were adding a rhythmic effect to a pad sound for
one of our fills.

and wide reverb to the appropriate layers individually.


The main difference is the impact synth layer should
have a dampened sound in the high end so that it
maintains its thud-like character and the shell sound
has a slightly longer, roomy reverb which can have a
brighter timbre. A different use of width or panning on
the reverbs can give a greater impression of size.

Compression and EQ
Processing is always a subjective craft, but some basic
guidelines are always a good place to start. In our case,
because the bass sound is the aggressive, mid-ranged
element we have pulled back the mid frequencies on
our synth layers in favour of allowing BFD3s acoustic
timbres to come through in this region of frequencies.
We did, however, add overdrive to produce some sizzle
in the top-end of our impact layer using a very slight

Although weve talked a lot about


synth envelopes, dont forget
that most DAWs have audio
sample volume envelopes as
well. These are great to fine tune
the start and end points so
transients dont mask each
other and to make fade outs as
smooth as possible.

amount of distortion built into the synth, which helped


highlight its punch.
Though compression tends to have a reputation of
destroying dynamics it can be used with a slow attack
and heavy gain reduction so that only the tail after the
transient is reduced, therefore actually increasing
apparent dynamics. This is best used as a shaping tool
on your kick and snare groups individually with custom
settings as required. A more airy sound can be achieved
by only compressing the impact transient layer per
drum, as it leaves any additional layers or ambience
effects free and open sounding while the transient layer
is still slightly enhanced.

Groove and bass


Everyone associates an infectious groove with drums,
and its often easy to fall prey to thinking that this is the

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 2: Dubstep beats

MTF Step-by-Step Pattern sequencing

For an authentic dub delay, bar getting your hands on a real tape
delay device, there are emulations available which offer non-syncd
timing settings in milliseconds and dulled-out delays over time. This
can be roughly emulated by low-pass filtering a delay that runs in
parallel and automating its cut-off to go low over time.

only aspect involved in creating it. The fact is, every


sound in your track can enhance or destroy an existing
groove you may have created. This is something to stay
vigilant of when adding any new elements to your track.
Its important to be mindful that each new element
added works at its best to enhance the song.
When added, each new element in a track can either
be placed to work alongside a drum part or create a new
feel by working rhythmically between drum hits. But
this doesnt have to be the extremes of placing a bass
sound in the biggest gaps between drum hits. For
example, it can be a simple matter of just placing a bass
part slightly before a beat. Then, why not let the kick
drum hit early here, in time with the bass part, to
highlight the fact? This kind of thinking will give more
power and energy to a mix, and the groove now feels
much more natural and less grid-static and sterile.
Groove can also be explored through the use of delay
lines. Classically, the roots of dub relied heavily on the

Every sound in your


track can enhance or
destroy an groove
youve created

The simplest of beat patterns can have a rock feel to them as the kick falls at the
start of each bar and the snare in the middle on the third beat of the bar. Some
beats will simply have a thin crash-cymbal-sounding layer alongside each drum to
create a large, sparse sound, leaving space for the bass to breathe in the mids.
Alternatively, explore adding cymbal hits slightly earlier on the grid for a sense of
immediacy or slightly later for a lazy, laid-back feel.

01

The feel of your pattern can also be dramatically changed when you explore
either swing or triplet quantization. These grooves are instantly recognisable as
they are commonly used in commercial music as a base rhythm or a means for
variation. Whether your track will benefit is entirely dependant on the song, but be
sure to experiment as sometimes youll find it can bring a track together.

02

use of delays and this carried through to current-day


dubstep. Using triplet tape delays on some drum hits
can add to the groove and work in place of drum fills at
phrase endings. They can even be used to add
rhythmical ghost notes to a pattern, and this works
especially well when turning off quantization from the
delay unit and using your ear as a guide for tempo
instead, creating a more human feel and a more classic
dub delay from a time before Sync.

Moving forward
Now weve outlined the steps weve taken in creating
our bass and drum tracks you should be in a good
position to move forward towards completing your track
(in its rough form, at least). Next time well be looking
more closely at developing our existing ideas towards
an arrangement and adding melodic content. In the
meantime be sure to explore what can be achieved with
the tools weve demonstrated so far. MTF
Turn to p88 for part 3 of Liam and Christophers
dubstep guide.

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If youre aiming for a more pounding movement in your track, a traditional dub
beat will give a sense of sounding like 4/4 hard-style music even though the
third beat of the pattern is a snare rather than a kick. Weve used velocity changes and
side-chain compression to emphasise the main drum hits, and left lighter, dynamic
hits in-between. Our crash and rides also fall on the beat for a more driving feel.

03

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MTF 20 Pro Tips Instrument micing

Instrument

Micing Tips

Its the most vital technique to master, as capturing a great sound is key to producing a
top-notch mix. Get the inside track with our essential advice
RAISE YOUR AMPS UP
It can be a good idea where possible to place combo
amps on a chair or a stand to isolate them from the floor, as
this will result in a cleaner sound. Also try placing amps away
from walls or the corners of rooms, as this tends to reduce
the likelihood of a booming effect that will be picked up by
the mic and colour the signal. If youre dealing with amp cabs
and heads theyre usually too big to place on top of
something, though you could consider a couple of crates, like
you sometimes use at gigs to raise amps up to direct more
sound at the crowd. If the space you are recording in isnt
perfect you can try boxing the amp and mic in using sofa
cushions or, at a pinch, a duvet. This will have the effect of
creating a kind of acoustic shielding that should remove
unwanted room ambience from the recording if you are
having problems with reflections.

02

02

LESS IS SOMETIMES MORE


Drums are probably the most technically difficult of all
instruments to record properly, but your approach should
reflect what youre trying to achieve. A slick pop record might
well call for upwards of ten drum mics, lots of ambient room
mics and so on, but a more lo-fi kind of garage guitar track
might sound better with just a few well-placed microphones
picking up a grungier sound. This also means fewer drum

03

Getting your amp off


the floor will
eliminate unwanted
dirt (above).

ACOUSTIC GUITAR POSITIONING


A good starting place for recording acoustic guitars is to
use a cardioid mic placed around 40cm from the guitar, firing
at the join of the neck and body. This usually offers a good,
well-balanced sound, and though it captures some of the
power coming from the sound hole it doesnt dominate the
signal. With any live recording, experiment with moving the
mic around to see what works best for your particular
situation. As a general rule, moving the mic gradually further
up the neck will increase the high frequencies captured and
lessen the bottom end, whereas moving the mic closer to the
sound hole will add warmth and depth if your sound is overly
bright. Moving the mic further away from the guitar will create
more ambience but perhaps at the risk of losing some
definition. Placing the mic closer to the guitar will create a
more intimate and dry sound.

01

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More mics for a


cleaner sound, or
fewer for a trashier
one (right).

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Instrument micing 20 Pro Tips MTF

tracks to juggle in the mix, though also less overall control of


the drum sound. Bleed is something that some producers get
obsessed with and it can be lessened by using very
directional mics, though youre always likely to get some
signal leaking between them. Bleed can be minimised
through careful placement and also reduced using EQ after
recording, but its usually not a huge problem if a little signal
has bled between some of your drum mics.

06

PIANO, MAN
Recording an acoustic piano can be particularly tricky
and you will almost always want two microphones to capture
the full range of the instrument: one nearer the bass end of
the body, and one nearer the top. For an upright piano you will
probably need to open the top lid, but if you remove the front
panel entirely you should be aware that this dramatically
alters the way the air resonates and fundamentally changes
the sound of the piano even though this can sometimes be
an interesting effect to go for. You may want to angle two mics
in from above, or place one near the ear level of the player so
the sound theyre hearing is what gets captured. Some people
even place a mic around the back of the piano for a slightly
different effect.

04

ATTACHED
05 STRINGS
When you record any kind of stringed instrument such
as a violin or cello, think about where the sound is actually
being generated. In the case of smaller instruments such as
the violin, the strings and sound holes are facing upwards, so
its best to angle a mic from slightly above, adjusting the
distance from the player to control the balance of direct
sound and room ambience. A cello is played at a different
angle so you will find that pointing the mic more or less at 90
towards the bridge should capture it pretty accurately. As
ever, close micing will give a more intense and intimate feel,
and moving back a little will soften things. You can even try
recording strings with stereo mics for a little more flexibility
at the mix stage. To get a better ensemble effect when
recording several players, try a few mics placed in more
ambient positions a little further away.

05

Mic positioning can


be crucial when
recording guitar
amplifiers (above).
Recording from a
little further away
captures a similar
sound to that which
the listener hears
(below left).
Use multiple
microphones for
more options
(below right).

presence and so on. Mics positioned closer to the floor will


generally provide a bit more low end. Close micing an amp is
the most common technique for capturing a harder, rockier
guitar tone when the mic points straight at the speaker.
Moved off centre, the tone softens a little. You can also try
adding a second ambient mic that you blend with the first,
moving each around until you hit the precise spot that works
for you. Any phasing problems should become apparent as
you monitor.
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Recording bass is much the same in terms of technique
as recording guitars, with the possible exception that you
would never really record bass amps in stereo because bass
almost always has to sit at the centre of the stereo field.
Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of general purpose
mics have a bass roll-off built in to deal with the proximity
effect caused by close micing vocals and some other
sources. This can result in reduced bass capture, which you
dont want if youre trying to get a nice deep sound. If its
switchable you can always turn this off but it can be a good
idea to use either a non-vocal dynamic mic that has a flat
low-end response or a dedicated bass or kick drum
microphone, positioning it around 6-12in in front of the
speaker in the cabinet.

07

USE MICS AND PICKUPS


If you want a close miced acoustic guitar sound but also
some room ambience you could either try an omni pattern
mic, or using two separate mics, one placed close by and one
further away (being sure to listen for phasing problems).
Mono micing is often sufficient for many tracks, but its not
the only option you have. Positioning a single mic correctly is

08

08

ITS ALL IN THE POSITIONING


A mic pointed at the centre of a speaker will give you
a brighter sound, and moving towards the edge smooths it
off and introduces more bass. Distance will affect the

06

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MTF 20 Pro Tips Instrument micing

fine, but having two mics in different places sometimes gives


you greater flexibility when it comes to mixing. The DIed
sound produced by piezo pickups captures only the sound of
the strings, very little of the body and none of the room, and
so tends to result in an unnatural-sounding recording. But
recording it wont affect the micd signal and it costs nothing
to record an extra audio track. In some situations, blending a
little of this signal with the mic recording can add weight and
body when balanced correctly. At the very worst, you can just
not use it if it doesnt sound good.

11

THE CHALLENGES OF PLAYING TOGETHER


If you are recording multiple musicians in a single space,
bleed can become a real issue. A bit of hi-hat leaking into the
tom mic isnt a huge problem but lead guitar getting into the
bass recording definitely is. And while you can fix some of this
stuff in the mix with EQ and gating its better to try and stop it
happening in the first place. Sometimes, recording everyone
separately really kills the vibe of a track, so its better to
record people at the same time if you can. Your drummer
should ideally have some kind of isolation from other players
since drums are so loud. One tip for guitars is to place amps
in a different room, mic them up and then feed the signal to
the player through headphones. This way the sound gets
captured accurately and the guitarist can play with feeling,
but theres little or no bleed in the room itself.

09

stereo effects in use that are modulating the way that signal
is directed to different cones. If you are able, set up several
mics 3-6in from the grille of the speaker. Then, listen to them
at a sensible volume and audition each one. Ideally you
would want to have someone to move the mics for you until
you find the best position for the microphone you end up
choosing. If you dont have an assistant then put the guitar in
the headphone mix, crank it up, stand in front of the amp and
move the mics until you get the right sound. This is all much
easier, of course, if you have someone to play guitar while you
arrange the mics.
CLASSIC MICS
The classic mic for recording electric guitar is the Shure
SM57, an inexpensive microphone and a staple of many
studios. They are often used in combination with a second
mic and the two channels either recorded to a single track or
double tracked and layered together later. Other popular
microphones include the Sennheiser MD 421-II, t.bone RB
500, Royer R-121 and Neumann U 67, and of course each has
its own characteristics.

11

Using acoustic isolation like sEs SPACE can help


you get the most out of your mic and the space
youre working in.

12

QUIRKS OF AMPS AND SPEAKERS


10 THE
On a multi-speaker guitar cab not every cone will sound
the same. Some are different sizes, or there may be some

A well-chosen all-round
condenser mic can fulfil a wide
variety of studio roles

10

KEEP IT SIMPLE
People obsess about microphones sometimes, but the
truth is that a well-chosen all-round condenser mic can fulfill
a wide variety of studio roles from vocals and electric guitar
recording through to percussion and acoustic guitar. Combine
it with some acoustic treatment like an isolator and some
clever positioning and youre able to achieve a lot with a fairly
simple mic.

12

ITS JUST A PHASE


Check stereo mics for phase cancellation by panning
them to the same spot and listening in mono. Retaining each
mics recordings on separate tracks will enable you to wait
until the mix stage to balance them properly. Another
interesting idea is to mic the front and back of an openbacked cabinet. If you do, be sure to start by placing the mics
at an equal distance from the speaker itself and reversing the
phase of the rear mic.

13

When an amp has more than one


cone, remember that its sound may
vary between cones (above).

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PERCUSSION TRICKS
When recording percussion such as bongos or a djembe
you will get very different results depending on your mic
placement. A mic firing at the top of the skin will capture the

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Instrument micing 20 Pro Tips MTF

harder, more percussive slapping motion of the hand. A mic


pointed up inside the drum body from underneath will
capture the booming from inside the drum. Some people use
both mic positions at the same time and then balance the
two in the mix for a really percussive but meaty overall sound.
WORK THE ANGLES
One common guitar amp micing technique is to point
one mic at the centre of the speaker and angle another
across the face of the first mic towards the speaker edge.
Bring the mics up on the desk and route them both to one
track on tape or in your DAW. Flip one out of phase and
balance the two channels until the sound is really thin, then
flip the phase back and you should have a nice thick sound.

15

THE LID
16 LIFT
Simply raising or lowering the lid of a grand piano can
dramatically alter the way sound is picked up, as can moving
a microphone closer to the strings or further away. With a

Get a more
consistent sound
with certain
instruments by using
clip-on mics (right).
Taking a dry feed
from an amps direct
out gives you more
options when mixing
guitars (below left).
Get creative with
dynamic mics
(below right).

A mic pointed up inside the


drum body will capture the
booming from inside
lower lid youll get a more intimate sound, and with the lid
raised, a bigger effect and more room ambience. Since grand
pianos have huge soundboards you will almost always need
to place one mic near the lower strings and one higher up to
ensure you capture all the signal properly.

18

CLIP-ON MICS
Some instruments are particularly hard to capture with
a conventional mic: flutes and some other brass, such as
trumpets and saxophones, where the players move around.
There are categories of clip-on mic and they remain fixed to
the instrument rather than the performer having to play into a
static mic. For serious studio recording youll want to spend a
bit of your budget on one of these, but it will be worth it.

18

USE STEREO CAREFULLY


If two acoustic guitar mics are different distances away
from the guitar you can encounter phasing problems, so
many producers make sure they are equidistant to avoid the
problem. If you want one to be further away for a specific kind
of sound you can phase align the two parts in your sequencer
afterwards. If you want to get really creative you could try
placing one mic about 30cm from the neck and another firing
over the players shoulder, which can produce a sound much
more like what guitarists hear while playing.

19

ONE DIRECTION
Directionality can be crucial. An omnidirectional mic will
generally offer a more roomy sound, but a directional mic
should reject sound from the back and sides and just record
what you point it at. Some mics have switchable polar
patterns and others are just directional. Dynamic mics such
as the SM57 are often used to record amplified instruments
thanks to their directionality and high SPL tolerance. MTF

20

20
17

DONT BE AFRAID TO DI
When recording anything through an amp it can be a
good idea to take a feed from the direct output of the amp, if
it has one, to record on a separate track and then blend in
with the micd takes. This is worth trying if your guitar amp is
smaller, as the DI will give you all the bottom end whereas the
speaker might offer more character. Record both at the same
time and balance them afterwards, remembering that you
may need to reverse the phase of one of the sources.

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 3: Riffs, fills & fx

Technique A track from scratch: Part 3

Dubstep riffs, fills & fx


Rome wasnt built in a day, and good craft takes time and patience. Liam OMullane and
Christopher Pearson share more tips on creative exploration and the important decision
making required when shaping initial ideas into full song sections.

ur first two instalments have taken you through


being mindful of various production techniques
and creative possibilities when carving your own
sound in the dirty dubstep business. If youve
been with us so far you should have a balancedsounding song section for both drums and bass. Our next
process is to develop these ideas and extend their playable
duration. Well then look at exploring other foreground and
background melodic information to take the song elsewhere
and aid arrangement while musically guiding the listener.
Well continue to develop our sound as we move further
towards the final stage of mixing but remember that things
can change; so whether its an instrument sound, or an
over-laboured pattern youve programmed, dont be afraid to
throw away bad ideas if they simply dont do justice to the

There are many


approaches you can
take when it comes to
expanding ideas
BLURRED LINES

Much like the sample-based melting pot that was


jungle in the 1990s, dubstep is also a musical genre
that constantly borrows the vibes of other, often
classic, genres. This can help create a distinct musical
element for the listener to latch onto, and it is open
territory thats well worth exploring.
The influences of trance and hardstyle are very
popular right now, encouraging heavy use of synth
arps, dense musical-sounding pads, hard distorted
lead synths and triplet rhythms. Skrillex has used
obvious dub reggae influences in tracks such as Make
It Bun Dem and Ragga Bomb, Zomboys Survivors
shows influence of techno and metal, and its
impossible to avoid the scourge of trance and
chip-tune influenced tracks in any mainstream charts
these days. But this all goes to show that
experimentation can not only work for a song, it can
also be the seed to start the next new sub-genre.
The only thing tying these elements together is the
unified focus on a heavy bass drop and a snare on the
third beat aside from this youre free to explore new
musical hybrids as you like. If youre not sure on where
to take this, open up your preferred music resource
and have a listening session on a particular genre. This
could be a genre already proving successful in musical
charts around the globe or a nod back to older times
whatever it is, you can find inspiration by listening.
Electro swing is a great example of fusing new and
old, so dont be afraid to dig out music that hasnt
glimpsed the mainstream for a long time. Then look at
emulating the style of sounds available, or just the
compositional style and feel, replacing older sounds
with a new-age, synthetic equivalent.

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On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the DVD

work youve done already. For example, our bass idea might
be completely re-worked by the final part in this series, so
be prepared to take your time and be open to a change in
direction if you create something that raises the game of
your song.
If a new idea works, just go with it and do what you must
to get all other elements up to this new standard. But if
some sounds are good but not right for the track, be
efficient with your efforts and save them out as presets to
use another time or bounce them as audio to store as
samples. If youve done this several times already youll be
piling up your own arsenal of sounds to cherry-pick the next
time around. Great for when you need quick inspiration.
Whereas parts one and two of this series have focused
more on the technicalities of music production, its possible
and sometimes favourable to revisit simpler and often
overlooked techniques. Theres a lot of creative potential in
working with sounds at their most fundamental level, i.e.
their notes, and using endless effects chains will degrade
the quality of your sound source. So take note of the simpler
things in life where possible and put to use our tips on
musicality and further editing your initial ideas.

Open your mind


There are many approaches to take when it comes to
extending your initial ideas. When
exploring variation, some techniques can
quickly become quite complex and place
a fair amount of strain on your computer if
youre piling on effects or using various
sound sources, so well start with the
least CPU-hungry options.
Feel free to start wherever the track
takes you, but well focus on drum
patterns first. Aside from adding the
usual eight- or 16-bar fills to break up
each phrase of your bassline, it can be
good practice to edit the groove of your
drums in a repeat of your initial pattern to
alter the feel of the drum and bass
combination already established. This
technique works well when the bass plays
a second repeat of itself, as the drum
changes can be enough to keep the
listener engaged. In our example track we
changed the position of the kick drum for
our second section to hit in unison with
the bass instead of a beat later as before,
thereby altering the groove to emphasise
the bass. This type of editing instantly
changes much more than just the kick

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A track from scratch part 3: Riffs, fills & fx Technique MTF

placement it has the power to change the groove of the


whole track when done with care and is a very simple edit to
implement. Similarly, try to change the position of bass
notes around the drums to get a feel for how they can play
off of each other and create new rhythms or to extend the
section in focus.
When it comes to bass parts, if youre keeping your
instruments live, or even programming a sampler from
sounds youve committed to audio already, therell be a
handful of new sweet spots to discover through the
exploration of pitch and parameter manipulation.
As well as trying to vary the notes of an existing riff for
musical change as it progresses, explore the extremes of
high or low octave notes to dramatically change an
instruments timbre. A bass will often break-up below a
certain pitch and this effect can be used as an occasional
accenting tool as it has a differing power when compared to
the instrument playing in its strongest area of pitch. Higher
pitched notes can be a good way to add a dynamic too, as
the instrument that is usually more bass orientated can
suddenly gain a lot of midrange information and a dramatic
shift in character.

LEADS,PADS AND AMBIENCE

From intense, driving bass drops to the slightest of ambient sections, music needs dynamics.
Take time to think about these contrasts and how they can complement each other. Our
example track sports a main lead sound that is very simple in its creation just saw waves in a
synth that have been detuned and distorted with soft saturation and embellished with reverb.
After the reverb, compression really helped to give a sense of size to the patch by
emphasising and swelling over time. This technique is best used when melodic content isnt
overly complex, as it allows time for the reverb to be heard. In addition to large leads you might
want to consider backing and overlaying them with delicate arpeggiated synths and other
lighter, more ambient sounds.
A simple way to create strings is to use a monophonic synthesizer with a relatively simple
sine, triangle or saw wave pitched up high to emulate a bow stroking a string. Add a little
movement from a modulation wheel or slow LFO for vibrato to add more depth to the final
result. Next, adding a long-tailed reverb as an insert or send with around 75-80% wet on the mix
can give a quite realistic single-string sound. Multiplying this patch and creating chords across
tracks can lead to you creating your very own, rather convincing, string ensembles, especially if
you use panning and/or mid/side processing to place each string in its own space.

Chopping and changing


Though cutting, moving, inserting and reversing are all
techniques youre probably familiar with when working on
audio files, look to approach your MIDI patterns in much the
same way. Dance music as a whole is based around sounds
being looped and stuttered in a variety of ways, and this
should therefore be how you see your MIDI patterns. MIDI
clips can be edited to small quantized-sized lengths, so try
slicing them up and re-ordering them as you would an audio

Musicality plays a big


role in even the most
seemingly unmusical
dubstep tracks
file. Repeat some of these smaller parts for a looped effect,
or try moving a small number of notes from part of your
existing idea to paste into a different location within a new
clip, i.e. start the pattern from beat three rather than beat
one. From here, write new parts around them so theres a
mix of new and already established material for the listener
to latch onto.
Again, this seemingly simple technique can help your
elements progress through a track without getting too
complex from the production side of things. Remember:
MIDI should not be overlooked in favour of effects chains.
This editing technique can be applied to automation as
well and works particularly well when altering the
placement of rhythmic data. Its pretty much like playing
around with the triggering and speed of an LFO or envelope
on a synth copy a highlighted portion of data from here to
there, change its shape, extend its duration (if your DAW
supports this) and so on.
Copying automation from other areas of your song can
also be handy for recreating certain sweet spots between
parameters to then edit and move on from. For example, you
might have two or three distinct timbres that youve created

Although we only used two layers to create our choral pad sound we managed to create a sense
of depth and movement by picking the right sounds that would modulate each other through
phase when detuned.

through automation for one instrument, and you can copy


the automation from these sections to new ideas so youre
starting from the same tone. Dont forget that too many
automation lanes can be a real headache to deal with, so we
always advise the use of macros to group particular
parameters together and make them much easier to
manage effectively.
Re-edits can apply to the instruments themselves as
well, and we often take an existing instrument, duplicate it
to a new track and then edit it to take it to another timbre.
This can help create a new layer to embellish whats already
there, or even help you find a completely new instrument
that might complement the first when not over-layered.
Keeping all automation intact helps to gel new layers
together, and from there subtle automation edits can start
to give even more movement between layers. Just be
careful, as this can soon result in tens of instruments with
processing chains being active at the same time, which will
put a lot of load on your computer.

The knowledge
Musicality plays a big role in even the most seemingly
unmusical-sounding dubstep tracks. Although some songs
will go for a heavy musical section that stands apart from
the bass drop theres also room for some musicality to aid
the bass section no matter how ugly it may appear to be on
the surface.
Even when a track appears to be made of purely horrible
sounds and noises, they need to have some musical
relationship to each other or they just wont gel. Drums can
be pitched musically, and riser sounds and other effects can
carry forms of musical pitch to help the listener get a sense
of key without even realising. Even seemingly disassociated
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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 3: Riffs, fills & fx

FOCUS ON VOCAL MANGLING

Vocals are a common feature in dubstep tracks these days, and fall into two main camps: fully
performed vocals and lyrics, which are generally left to be heard in the state the performer intended; or
heavily manipulated vocal parts that sound nothing like the original recordings. The latter approach
requires quite a lot of trial and error but the fruits of your labour can result in a critical hook line for
your track, so its often time well spent.
You can search for vocal samples from a variety of sample packs to begin these techniques, but we
prefer to get the mic out and do a continuous recording session while we explore different vocal ideas
to use. These can be anything from spoken word ideas, singing, or general weird noises which on their
own wont sound like much to work with. The key element here is to try and get as much timbrel range
out of your vocals as possible, as this will give you more to work with. Also explore the duration of your
sounds so you have a few variations to work with.
Once your audio is ready to use, first explore pitch transposition to see if the vocal recordings slot
better into your current production aesthetic when pitched up or down. If you have the option to also
play with the formants of your sound through your available transposing tools, this can yield large
timbrel shifts and get you into the alien voice territory as well. This is quite handy when we need to
remove the embarrassment factor of hearing our own voices!
We like to add mix processing here too, especially if these vocals are home grown. So well add
compression, EQ and some master buss-like processing as well, and this will then be rendered down to
audio. The idea is to make this vocal sound like weve sampled it from elsewhere so that it has that
richness of sound from the outset to work with.
Next its time to chop the audio up, and this can be done on an audio track or after slicing it into a
MIDI sampler if preferred. The main requirement is that you can sequence individual slices and then
move the start point of each slices content. We want to sequence an interesting rhythm first, then
move the content of each event to find the best place for each vocal sound to start with audio tracks
this is called slip-editing, and just moving the start marker for each slice in a sampler creates the same
effect. Also make good use of pitch and direction, as vowels can take on a completely different tone
when reversed.
When you have an interesting pattern going, explore pitch alongside the start point of each sound.
You want something thats musically interesting here, so you might want to edit pitch to create a
melody line of sorts. Remember that less can be more, so dont just fill up each bar in your pattern with
a constant barrage of vocal edits leave space for other sounds to come through the mix.
Once youve established an idea that seems to work in your track its time to add more texture, and
we do this through further effects processing. You can punch in certain effects to be sequenced as part
of your pattern using automation, so for instance, a ring-mod only turns on for one slice of your overall
vocal pattern, etc. The more creative you can be here, the better. Use dry/wet controls to balance out
your processing if you want to retain some of the original vocal character for an overall consistency in
timbre between samples, but the type of effects you choose is completely fair game.

When it comes to vocal manipulation, its not often that well stumble across a good pattern and idea
straight away. Like all aspects of heavy sound-design, follow this process until you have something of
interest edit, process, bounce, and repeat as necessary.

bass sounds should have a harmonic relationship with


each other, as our ears need this to make sense of it.
This is why some tracks, although well produced on
the surface, still dont seem to sound completely in the
pocket a common occurrence in electronic genres,
and something to keep an ear out for.
You dont need to understand music theory to pitch
your sounds in the right place, though, just explore the
potential pitch of each sound (trial octaves too) and
then decide which sounds best.
Musicality is also an important aspect of the mix
process; after all, musical notes are divided by
frequency, so choosing the right pitch will mean youre
letting the mix take care of itself to a certain extent.
Dont introduce sounds that need major mix correction,
and be wary of building up frequency conflicts in the
mix key is key here!

Anything goes
Theres no set rule when it comes to adding musical
layers to accompany your bass, and weve kept things
pretty sparse in our example track we have a
prominent lead synth of a few chords tied together. To

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IMAGE BOX

When extending your bass ideas its easy to assume this needs to be
done with editing alone, but theres no reason why you cant continue
to make use of your instruments sweet-spots through a controller to
jam out new ideas for where your sounds can go.

keep the timing interesting weve used a less-thanpredictable point for chord changes.
We highlight this by changing the drums groove in
some sections to match. Weve also used heavy
sidechain compression from the drums, so although
they are long and sustained they actually only play at
full volume for a very brief moment in time. This
makes the drums, bass parts and melodic content all
interact with each other for a sense of sonic and
musical dynamics.
The chords you hear on the intro are actually the
initial ideas we developed, but it made more sense to
keep them sparser in the main drop to simplify and
create space, so we confined the busier content to the
intro and breakdowns to help fill things out.
Weve also added an arpeggiated synth part over our
lead, which again began its life as a continuous
sequence while we figured out the best notes to use.
Then, later in the arrangement, we stripped it back to
play less frequently, giving it more impact when it does
play. Its notes help to highlight the lead further whilst
also creeping into the upper register of the mix.
Musical elements can have just as much interaction
with your drums as bass parts do, so be mindful of

There are no set rules


when it comes to adding
musical layers to
accompany your bass
where you place each new sound. Groove is an easy
thing to lose if you dont stay focussed and keep that
bin handy for dropping ideas if they dont aid the track.
Experimentation is key to finding complementary parts
that help inspire progression.

Come together
On listening to our tracks basses, lead and arp as a
whole sequence youll notice that all of the separate
elements work together to create a single, cohesive
musical phrase. The idea here is that you should be able
to hum along to your track through most of its

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A track from scratch part 3: Riffs, fills & fx Technique MTF

sections, no matter what style of sounds youve used.


Its important to note that without this hum
approach you might find an audience to be
disengaged. It seems people need some form of
musicality to connect with, but this doesnt mean it
needs to be directly obvious.
For instance, employing simple techniques such as
tuning the drums and finding musical content through
your choice of FX can help to really solidify a track into a
particular key. Even though these methods may be
subtle, do still aim to create a full musical phrase with
them by using different sounds and sections. This
makes a big difference to whether or not listeners find a
track engaging.

MTF Step-by-Step Three steps to better instrumentation

Time to face the change


In dubstep its common to make fundamental changes
to sections after 16, 32 or 64 bars. A good place to
start replicating this type of arrangement can come
from copying an earlier section and making edits,
such as cutting all musical elements to let the bass
lead the track for a while. You can also go for an A/B
format that moves between one main bass idea and
another while editing each repeat to give them
unique variation.
Our example is quite progressive in terms of the
song sections we have so far, but this could change. We
have an intro section, breakdown, main drop, second
edit and a middle-eight section to change the feel of the
track and introduce a new focal element.
To create the latter we studied the musical notes
used throughout our intro and main sections, then
copied the drums over to a new section. Here we
added a new main arpeggiated synth in the same key
but altered the melody to fill the frequency range and
kept our bass elements minimal. This new section is
used as a prelude to the breakdown, delivering a
softer entrance to the upcoming ambience.
Sections like this can often be used by DJs to mix
out of tracks another thing to keep in mind, and
something well cover more in depth when looking at
finalising our arrangement.
Alongside the new melody line we recorded and
mangled some vocals to add a new texture to the track.
This took quite a while due to experimenting with a
mass of editing techniques, but we ended up with an
interesting-sounding alien vocal part.
All of this experimental play gave us a slightly
percussive vocal element that we could carry through to
the breakdown. In fact, we might later develop this by
overlaying percussion to highlight this section further.

Try not to get too distracted with the idea of having a vast range of instruments
to work with. We prefer to get stuck into a few instruments at parameter level
and explore automation editing in much the same way as we work with MIDI. Copy,
paste, insert, stretch and edit automation and youll be surprised by how much range
is available from each instrument.

01

Its easy to get stuck in a jam with automation when trying to create a lot of
different tones from a handful of synths. If you can, try to map parameters to
macros or snapshots so its easier to automate them.

02

Destination anywhere
Weve covered drums, bass and musicality through
parts one to three, and you should now have at least a
rough idea of where your track is heading or even what
it will sound like on completion.
Theres still much to do before we reach the finishing
post, though, and part four of our dirty dubstep series
(over the page) will look at the arrangement,
bridging song sections with effects, build-ups, and
breakdowns, and adding any other sounds required
to aid the arrangement. Then well finally look at
mixing and pre-mastering (p96). MTF

Different DAWs offer different levels of MIDI editing functionality, which can be
used to manipulate your existing ideas for variation. Cubase (pictured here) has
some of the most comprehensive tools for this task, but most DAWs will offer
features such as reverse, flip and the ability to re-scale the duration of a highlighted
number of notes.

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 4: Arrangements

Technique A track from scratch: Part 4

Dubstep arrangements
Ready to lay it all out? Liam OMullane and Christopher Pearson guide you through
the twists and turns of a successful dubstep arrangement and get you one step
closer to your final product

f youve followed us from part one youll be aware that


there are many ways to start a track from scratch. You
might start with a musical idea that inspires a song or
maybe a bass hook thats just begging to be written
around. Regardless of how you go about the task of
composition its a rarity to write in the order that the song
plays, i.e. from intro to ending. Its more likely that youll
write from the meat outwards, as this is where most ideas
happen. The surrounding sections are then designed around
it to guide the listener on their journey.
Bearing this in mind, this penultimate part in our dirty
dubstep series will focus on taking our meat and turning it
into a full, delicious meal. Although its rare to carry out
arrangement work in the running order a track is built, for
claritys sake well talk you through each section in a linear
fashion, from the first bar to the last.

On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the DVD

Its a rarity to
compose all the parts
in the order that the
song plays
The stock format
Although there are distinct sonic and rhythmic differences
between this sub-genre of dubstep and other forms of
club-friendly dance music, song arrangements are
becoming more and more universal these days. This unified

TRANSITION EDITS

Once a track has a fuller form you can step back and
listen to it as a whole before making decisions on what
might need to be nipped and tucked for further
improvement. Transitions between song sections are
one of these decisions and they need to be smooth
and unobtrusive.
To achieve this you can play with a few techniques
such as using a slowly creeping, sweeping sound to
cover the transition, or removing some complex
content so theres a sense of breath in the songs
density. These can both be used, though; for instance,
you could simplify drum editing a bar or two before the
end of a section, and where a drummer may play a fill,
instead introduce the sweeping sound before the next
section begins. This will create suspense by stripping
down the tracks drive for a moment to have another
sound sweep through before a new section starts.
Another approach is similar to how you can borrow
parts of a main drop to tease in an intro, but instead
youre borrowing parts from the section to come. This
is especially useful to help smooth a drastic change
thats about to happen by preparing the listener to
some degree.

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approach is down to how DJs have increasingly become


centre stage in the industry over the last 30 years.
Because DJs tend to play mix-friendly tracks and shun the
trickier side of dance music, over time this has forced
producers into more simplistic arrangements to be sure
their music is playable.
Classically termed a club or DJ friendly mix, this format
is traditionally six or more minutes in duration and extends
the ideas from a shorter three-minute radio friendly
version. Though the format for a club mix hasnt changed
that much the duration has, especially with dubstep.
Many dirty dubstep tracks these days only last around
four-and-a-half minutes, which inevitably means they cut to
the chase quicker. This shorter duration also means that
the songs are more radio friendly, but with this comes the
need to have strong ideas that will catch the listeners
attention from the very outset. So whereas the
traditional club mix might have a long, drawn-out
introduction that enables the DJ to mix the track in for a
while before anything major happens, now it needs to get to
the point pretty quickly.
A typical arrangement format goes like this: intro, drop,
alternative drop, breakdown, drop, alternative drop, outro.
This isnt a strict rule as there may be a breakdown before
the drop, multiple breakdowns or none later on, and so on,
but you should get the idea of the order in which each
section is introduced. Although the second repeat of the
drop may not be strictly identical to the first time its played,
a simple duplication of the parts when laying your
arrangement out is a good start, but well get to that later
on. First lets break down the format above and separate
each part into their respective functions.

In the beginning

(Above) Here weve borrowed parts from


the breakdown section and teased them
in beforehand through simplifying their
content and fading them in to smooth
over the transition.

Intros are obviously a precursor of


whats to come later in the track. Youd
usually expect an inclusion of some
light rhythm work provided by perhaps
some sparse hi-hats or a catchy
percussion phrase. The DJ uses this
section as a metronome for mixing and
also helps the audience stay in sync
with the track should it be played from
the beginning rewind!
Introductions usually include some
unique sonic elements, but leading
sounds tend to be borrowed from, or
musically associated with, a main
drops hook. There is a reason for this over an apparent
laziness a focal or memorable motif from the main drop in
some form can help an audience identify the upcoming

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A track from scratch part 4: Arrangements Technique MTF

track during a DJ mix (providing theyve heard the track


before, of course). This creates a sense of excitement and
anticipation for the listener. This most commonly surfaces
through a form of effect variation, such as filtering, to tease
in whats to come.
Musically associated ideas can be anything from leads
and SFX to strong rhythmic motifs. These work as a less
obvious way to guide the listener to the drop but they do
need to have a melodic or rhythmic association with the
main drop. Bearing this in mind, its good practice to create
these sounds over the drop at first to build them in context,
then move them to earlier in the song over the intro to create
a sense of build or lead-in.

MTF Step-by-Step Reverse engineering an intro

Dropping science
The drop is the part of a song that people recall when they
think of a track. Its where all the energy lies and what all the
excitement is about. In dubstep, the intricacy, bass melody
and full body of other musical elements live here, the rest of
the song is almost superfluous to a dancefloor its all
about guiding the listener to this point in your song and then
guiding them to the second iteration, making sure they
appreciate the second drop by arrangement dynamics.
This section has probably been the core focus of your
composition from the outset for this very reason and it
makes or breaks a track, so we have little to discuss here for
the elements you might choose to include. However, if you
wish to go for a common 32-bar section, variation is
something to focus on to sustain interest over time. In part
three of this series (p88) we discussed how you can choose
to unite or offset sounds such as your bass and drum parts
while programming a drop to add variation, but finding

The drop is the part


of the song that people
recall its where all
the energy lies
some other occasional sounds outside of those for
accenting can be a good trick for variation too, as it
introduces new timbres.
The drop and alt-drop in our example track consist of the
same 32-bar bass sequence, doubled, but weve inserted
new sounds in the alt-drop half and edited it to change the
rhythm as well. The alternative drop in our example isnt as
drastic a switch as some songs have. For instance, the drop
may consist of two main bass ideas that interact and play
off each other.
This technique is referred to as Q&A and is how our
bassline has worked when adding the second element in
our alt-drop. For further development, another element can
be added, bringing a third party to the conversation, which
can be joined by another, and another, and so on. Just try to
use a few core elements to lead the musical phrase
throughout for continuity and musicality for the listener to
latch on to.

Start breaking down


Regardless of where breakdowns live in your arrangement
their purpose is to both let a listener take a break and

The intro is at its fullest before a drop or breakdown, so start here and work
your way backwards while chopping content away. Intro content should
always create a slightly lower energy level than the drop, so bass is usually
removed and drum tracks have less content.

01

Paste a new copy of all content before this section and then mute parts to
audition what can be either removed entirely, partially edited down to be
more sparse, or teased through the use of filtering, volume or other audio effects
processing that can mask a sound.

02

Another trick to introduce a musical section is to create a looping-like effect


where you duplicate a short first section of the phrase for a section before it
plays in its entirety. This works especially well when used in conjunction with
filtering for a DJ-like effect.

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 4: Arrangements

MTF Step-by-Step Creating a second drop

When it comes to your second drop, explore being bold a memorable first and
second drop will make your track more desirable and likely to be played for
longer in a DJ set. Switching the accenting on your drum groove to a 4/4 style can lift
the drive of your track, and although key changing is often associated with cheesy boy
bands, when done well its a powerful tool to keep building up energy levels
throughout your song.

DECORATIVE SOUNDS

From chopped vocal ditties to foley sounds or synthetic effects,


additional interests that surround the main elements in a track
can really help to let a record shine. These elements can help
establish new song sections by introducing a new sound that
hasnt been present in a song up until that point. Alternatively, a
stripped-down song section can benefit from flutters of sonic
interest to give them life and a little ear candy. These smaller
details can go a long way and are a great excuse to get creative in
or out of the lab.
If you have a portable recorder, phone, or any device capable of
audio capture, leave the studio space in the search for sounds. If
you like to write songs with a theme, think about what sounds that
theme might entail. Trying to recreate and record them is a very
creative process and gives you an excuse to escape the mouse and
keyboard for a while if youre computer-bound with your music.
Alternatively, if you love your mouse and keyboard, explore
combining different layers of samples from your arsenal of
instruments, effects processing and any other audio mangling
techniques you may not normally go for. From this you can
stumble across happy accidents that can then be re-sampled,
edited and generally taken further through experimentation to
achieve unique sounds to augment your song.

01

IMAGE BOX

Though theyre not at the forefront of your track, decorative sounds


should be given close attention, as this is where you can work on
another level for unique timbre and textures.

To truly understand arrangements we recommend you grab a small selection of


your favourite dubstep tracks and start slicing them up into sections. This will
help you identify how many sections there are and how much is repeated.

02

heighten the impact of the drop thats to come by


lowering the energy level from the section thats come
immediately before.
In this genre the main sections tend to lead into a
single breakdown, or into a pre-breakdown where the
aggressive midrange of the bass dissipates in favour of
a melody or other inoffensive elements. For instance,
the pre-breakdown in our example track replaces the
main bass parts with a floating synth line and new vocal
edit. This introduces some breathing space into the

DJs rarely allow a


second drop to be heard
before theyve mixed
into another song
track before it slowly filters out to an ambient
breakdown prior to the second drop. As the drums are
now mostly absent it gives us the room to explore
expressive musicality, which weve achieved through the
use of ambient pads and delicate tones.

Rinse and repeat

When youre considering where to add or remove layers of information in your


track to enhance arrangement dynamics, remember where the peaks and
troughs need to be to guide the listener.

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When it comes to other repeated sections like the


second drop and alt-drop, there are two schools of
thought on how this should be approached. The first is
to simply copy the earlier sections and just repeat
them; after all, most DJs these days rarely allow a
second drop to be heard before theyve mixed into

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A track from scratch part 4: Arrangements Technique MTF

another song. But if you want your tracks to have a bit


more musical merit and also increase the chance of a
full play in a club, make a significant change to this
second drop to distinguish it from the first and further
increase the tracks energy levels.
A simple yet effective way to raise energy levels is to
alter a sonic or rhythmic aspect of the drums. Adding a
thin-sounding ride or crash cymbal layer to play on the
beat is a common yet still effective practice in the
genre. If done right, fundamental reprogramming of the
drum pattern and bass parts from the first drop can
create a drastic switch for this second drop.
If youre feeling brave, dont believe that this section
has to simply be a repeat of the first drop at all. So,
though its not commonplace by any standards, a
strong, independent second drop, complementing the
song as a whole, has the ability to make your music
stand out and be more than the flavour of the week in a
DJs crate.

The ultimate goal


The outro is quite open-ended in terms of its
execution, and if youre here youve already experienced
the ups and downs of production along the way. Outros
are usually the last piece of the puzzle and can be
relatively straightforward.
By simply copying a short portion from an intro or
breakdown with no elements of crescendo you can

MTF Step-by-Step Creating risers and descenders

At its most fundamental level, a synthetic rising or descending sound can be


used to help get to or from one song section to the next. Any synth with a
fundamental waveform can be used like a saw wave for clarity. Then draw in a held
note over 4, 8, 16 bars, etc, and automate MIDI pitchbend from zero to its highest value.
Make sure the pitch-wheel is set to a musical interval such as one or two octaves.

01

An outro can be
another opportunity to
explore artistic flair in
your track
achieve a passable ending to your song. This is short,
sweet, and a quick exit. Alternatively, a more traditional
approach is to remove track elements one by one to
filter out density over time. Much like our advice to be
bold when creating a second drop, an outro can be
another opportunity to explore even more artistic flair
there arent any set rules here, so musical freedom is
entirely yours.

For an increase in intensity add an LFO to amplitude and automate its depth of
modulation so the volume fluctuates faster when the pitch is at its highest
value. This could also be an LFO controlling pitch for a wobbly tone, or any other
parameter to help amplify the effect of this sound in the mix.

02

The end is nigh


Before we move on to our fifth and final instalment in
this series, its time to recap where weve been and what
we expect you to have achieved before its time to mix
and pre-master our dirty dubstep track.
Weve worked on bass, drums and groove production
while sharing various methods to expand ideas and
craft a final arrangement. This has been a lot of work so
far and we encourage you to follow us through to the
end. By this, we mean even if your ideas arent chart
topping at this stage, the value of seeing this song
through to the end outweighs waiting until you have a
perfect song to mix. Yes, it may not get you signed, it
mightnt even give you a track to play out for yourself,
but it will teach you the hardest part of the music
making game completing your work! Well see you
next time for the mixing treatment MTF

As well as parameter exploration, try effects as well. An effect that generates


stereo width such as chorus can have its dry/wet control automated so a sound
goes from mono to stereo as it grows in intensity. Or perhaps increase saturation on a
distortion unit while keeping the output level controlled so theres an increase in
frequency content over time.

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 5: The perfect mix

Technique A track from scratch: Part 5

The perfect mix


In the final part of this epic series Liam OMullane and Christopher Pearson guide
you through the hardest part of music production: finalising your mix and finishing
off your track

ell, its been a long road but were finally at


the last stage of our dirty dubstep track, and
we hope you are too. Even if you feel that the
track youve created isnt that great, stick
with us and sit through the entire process
from start to finish. Its important to drum in all of these
skills and not get too caught up on one part of the process in
particular, as every track you complete is a worthwhile
lesson for the skills youll gain for the next project.
Weve been crafting our mix throughout the sound- and
idea-building process, but regardless of how good things
may seem to sound at the end of a creative songwriting
session there are many problem areas that are much easier
to detect when youve given yourself a break from the
project and listen with completely fresh ears.

On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the DVD

Patience is a (dubstep) virtue


Weve waited a good few weeks before re-opening our
project for writing this final instalment and can immediately
hear a variety of problems with the mix and finer

Were at the last stage of our


dirty dubstep track, and hope
that you are too
MIX BUSS PROCESSING

arrangement details that could prevent our main ideas


from coming across in their best light. Remember that your
song is a story and your mix is there to sell it to the listener.
A bad mix wont get the ideas across clearly, so with that in
mind lets make some mixing decisions and compile our
completion list.

Trimming the fat


The first rule about evaluating your current mix is to listen
with your ears and not your eyes. So for the first few
evaluative plays, listen with the computer monitor turned
off. This secret of the pros is often overlooked yet it
highlights parts of your song that need further editing.
Perhaps some sections need improving as they arent in
keeping with the established flow of the track. Or maybe the
ideas are all there but in some sections theyre sounding
cluttered due to an overload of events. A big part of this
stage is to be brutal and decide what aids the song and
what needs cutting back so the ideas can breathe.
This is a time to explore muting out specific parts that
may distract the listener from the main ideas happening at
any moment in time. Choosing muting rather than deleting
means you can always un-mute later, and this is better than
having to undo or load an older project version.
When creating fills at the end of a section, newly
programmed elements are often blighted by competing
layers of sound that may still exist from the song section
thats about to end. These can also be muted or you could
choose to re-program them to work in unison with the new
idea instead.
After listening to our own song with
fresh ears its immediately obvious
that our track is a little too dense in the
top end and that the kick and snare
are often being masked by other
sounds in the mix, resulting in an
inconsistent feeling of power. When
assessing your track its important to
start creating your end goals for
completion this is where writing a
list is important. (See the Completion
List boxout on p54 for an example and
check out the audio files provided on
your MT DVD.)

Processing on the mix buss will help to sculpt your work. Here are a few tips for heading in the
right direction when mastering dubstep
Use a linear phase EQ for the most transparent
adjustments, and add a high-pass filter to cut
below 35-40Hz to clear out sub frequencies
that will only eat up the headroom and
therefore the potential maximum volume your
track can achieve. Also limit the top end with a
low-pass filter around 16kHz. Although this is
a classic technique to help your music
translate better to vinyl, its good to smooth off
the top end for a warmer sound.
Experiment with gentle compression but
be careful not to get too squash-happy or youll
ruin the dynamics. Were talking 2-3dB of gain
reduction, applied with a slow attack and
release to keep the transients intact.
Stereo width control and possible
enhancement are a consideration too; but with
width comes a loss of power, so be sparing and
keep it in the higher frequency range.
Last in the chain is limiting. Although this
needs to be left off for mastering, to get a quick
playout version beforehand try one limiter and
lower the threshold until you hear crackles and
Mix buss processing should be used with caution, but its useful to make
artefacts, then back off. A second limiter with a
the track ready to play out on the day of completion. A non-processed
different algorithm can be added, and a little of
version should always be available when delivering your work for
the two will have a cleaner loudness than too
mastering, but sending your processed version can give them artistic
much being squeezed out of one.
reference to work from as well.

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Physical phatness
Now that we have an initial to-do list of
fixes for our mix, lets look at how we
can achieve some basic tasks. One
advantage of stripping back some
elements in your track is that theyll

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A track from scratch part 5: The perfect mix Technique MTF

bring the remaining sounds to the fore, making them seem


more present even though youve not technically made any
changes to them. In the case of our drums being lost in the
mix, this needs more attention than simply stripping out
other conflicting elements, as this could result in almost
nothing being left and we dont want to lose the epic, trance
production-like sound weve gained so far.
The kick and snare have plenty of size in terms of
ambience and weight for lower-end impact but they dont
come across as aggressively as wed like. One option is to
process single drum sounds, or the whole drum group, with
some saturation-based plug-ins.
Saturation is a good option here as it can be used to
increase the density of mid-range frequencies while also
compressing the signal to become a little louder and more
up-front sounding. A drawback of this approach is that we
could soon be chasing our tails by beefing up the drums too
much in relation to our other sounds, and then ramping up
other elements and ending up with a louder but just as
cluttered mix.
We also thought about the key frequencies within our
drums and how we dont want too much overlap from other
parts, which will cause masking. A simple trick that can be
very effective here involves adding an EQ to the drum group,
and then using its frequency bands to pinpoint where the
main impact and mid-range frequencies of our kick and
snare are via a combination of positive gain settings and
sweeping the frequency of each band to find and boost the
key frequencies. Group all non drum-based sounds and drag
the same EQ over for subtractive reduction of these set
drum-orientated frequencies.
This can be as subtle as five or so decibels in reduction,
but these notches in all non drum-based sounds will help
the drums to cut through the mix better and therefore have
more impact.

MTF Step-by-Step Effective side-chaining

A good way to ensure your drums will always cut through your mix is to
group all other sounds that arent drums, and then set up a compressor
triggered by the kick and snare with a fast attack and release to duck this all but
drums group.

01

Stereo dynamics
Though were about to discuss loudness and dynamics, its
important not to overlook the dynamics available through
the manipulation of the stereo field. A variation to the stereo
width of different mid-range bass sounds can really help
your basslines have a stereo dynamic as a whole.
Some of your upper bass sounds may be stereo from
source or from effects youve processed them with as part

If you want a massive sound for leads or pads, send them to a hugesounding reverb on an auxiliary channel. Then add a compressor after the
reverb and have the original sound trigger it with a fast attack and a slow,
musically set release time. This will duck the reverb when the source sound plays
and the reverb will swell up in volume in-between the notes.

02

Its important not to


overlook the dynamics
available through stereo
field manipulation
of your sound design. If this is the case, a simple stereo
width plug-in can help you pull in or slightly widen the
stereo field on a per-sound basis. If sounds are mono or only
slightly stereo in nature there are a few ways to process
them to become wider sounding.
The first and most common way is to use dedicated
stereo enhancement tools. Though this isnt the
cheapest method, plug-ins such as iZotopes Ozone or
Alloy make it easy to create dense, stereo sounds. But
before you splash the cash, there are other options out
there to create width.

A great way to tighten up your mix without losing its ambience is to add a
compressor after your auxiliary ambience FX, as in the last step, but with a
snappier, short release time to be triggered by your drums. Now ambience FX will
duck in sympathy to your drums so the heavier sections sound tighter and
breakdowns fill out with louder FX.

03

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MTF Technique A track from scratch part 5: The perfect mix

MTF Ij[f#Xo#Ij[f Creating tight micro edits

COMPLETION LIST EXAMPLE

Below is our own completion list, created after a few fresh


listens to our project at the start of the day. As well as noting
down points of concern, jot down how you think youll fix the
issues as well. This will help create a list that you systematically
have to get through. Even though more areas needing attention
will become apparent as you start working through each task,
using this method will at least help you get started in the
daunting task of finishing your music.

Stripping down your mix for short fill sections really helps to tighten up your
sound and create more dynamics in your track. This is quite a time-consuming
task, but a good starting point is to loop around the fill with a bar or so either side for
context, then solo each track to hear where all the current sounds are coming from.

01

=[ja_YaWdZidWh[jeYkjj^hek]^X[jj[h"cWoX[;Gekj
clashing frequencies on all other sounds in the mix.
Ibembo_djheZkY[Zkbb[ha_YaWdZidWh[ed_djhem_j^bem#fWii
filter and add tape delays to create more rhythm.
FheY[iij^[EXden_ekiXWiiiekdZjei_jX[jj[h_dj^[c_nie
its less wide sounding and overly up front.
Ibembo_djheZkY[cW_dfWZiWj_djhem_j^lebkc[WkjecWj_ed$
C_d_c_i[ej^[hiekdZiWbed]i_Z[j^[leYWbijWXiX[\eh[j^[
drop to make the vocal more prominent.
9b[WdkffWZWcX_[dY[WdZej^[hXWYa]hekdZiekdZied
various bass fills for a dryer sound.
9h[Wj[ceh[ij[h[ecel[c[djWdZ_dj[h[ij\ehc_ZZb[#[_]^j
vocal part.
FheY[iic_ZZb[#[_]^jleYWbh_\\ceh[jemWhZi[dZe\f^hWi[
for more interest and make it the main feature just before
the breakdown.
=_l[Whfiodj^fWhjceh[j[njkhWb_dj[h[ijWdZcel[c[djm^[d
playing, maybe through filtering.
7ZZbj[h_d]jecW_dc[beZoh_\\ed_djheWdZekjhe$

The first method is to use slightly opposed pan


settings for two related sounds. This isnt great for bass,
but does work very well on percussive drum parts such
as two hi-hats that alternate between each other on a
regular basis. Just set one slightly to the left and the
other to the right and your drum sounds will suddenly
start to sound wider while your kick and snare still drive
down the centre of the mix.
You can also do this with layered pad sounds so the
layers are panned across the stereo field. Be careful
because width substitutes power, and whereas a hi-hat
doesnt need to be up front, a bass generally does, so
exercise caution with leading instruments.

Special effect
Now start muting out parts that detract from the main elements. If sounds have
a decay to them youll have to automate either a mute or a fade to create
complete silence. This can also apply to your auxiliary FX channels too, as reverb tails
and delays will also shift the focus.

02

The Haas effect is one of our favourite methods to


widen any non-percussive sounds. This involves
delaying one side of the signal by a short, sub-50ms
value, so although you cant detect the delay as a
separate event you do get a sense of stereo. But its
delay-based nature means it doesnt work very well on

Your drums sound


wider while your kick
and snare still drive
down the centre

When stripping things down to one or two sounds, experiment with going from a
wide stereo sound to mono using a stereo width plug-in. This will give another
dynamic to the track at this point and is brilliant to help the sound seem unique to the
rest of your potentially wide mix.

03

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percussive sounds, as you can start to hear a slight


flamming effect on transients at higher ms values. For
pads and mid-range bass tones, though, this is a
valuable tool.
You may have already utilised modulation effects in
your bass design, but chorus, flanger and phaser are
excellent tools to stereo-ise a variety of sounds. You can
go for slow, subtle modulation rates and a liberal
amount of wet signal, or go for more extreme tonally
altering settings and only feed a slight amount of wet in
with the dry signal to achieve width. The trade-off with

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A track from scratch part 5: The perfect mix Technique MTF

these effects, though, is that sounds become a little


smeared and will step slightly further back into your
mix, but this smoothing side-effect is often more
beneficial than being a hindrance.
Our final technique can achieve similar results to the
purpose-built enhancing plug-ins already mentioned,
but youll need to figure out how to do mid / side
processing within your specific DAW to achieve it.
In short, the mid signal is the mono centre of the
mix, and the sides are all the information that is unique
on one side of the mix from the other. Start with at
least a slightly stereo-ised sound so some side
information exists, then add compression or saturation
to the side signal only. Saturation is particularly useful
here as it adds compression and new harmonics, which
is great for that super-wide sound whilst retaining
mono compatibility.

Achieving tasteful loudness


Our last focus is on maintaining a level of volume
dynamics while also achieving a competitive level of
loudness. As dynamics are coming back into fashion its
important that you dont just slam the hell out of your
sounds for a perception of loudness. If you add
saturation, compression or limiting to a sound or group
of sounds, go for little and often so the effect isnt so
obvious to the ear. We like to use a variety of tonal,
vintage gear emulations, pushing the sound a little bit
with each one so the tonal sum of each tweak is
texturally interesting to the ear.

MTF Step-by-Step Unwanted pops and clicks

While youre performing micro edits youll start focussing your hearing at such a
high level that youll potentially start to find problem sounds and clicks, which
youll want to get rid of. If they are at the start or end of a piece of audio use fades to
smooth them out.

01

Experiment with
settings in the context
of the whole mix to tune
harmonic content
When it comes to saturation, a multi-band option
over broad or whole-band processing can let you
selectively choose where you want the new, loudness
increasing harmonics to sit while leaving the other
frequencies untouched. Just remember to experiment
with these settings in the context of the whole mix so
you can correctly tune your new harmonic content to sit
in a non-congested area of the mix.

Another problem area can arise from clicks in consecutive heavily edited pieces
of audio. This happens from jumps in the waveform cycle position between edits.
To solve this, solo the track and use crossfades to smooth out the transition from one
slice to the next to even out the resulting waveform.

02

Final thoughts
If youve made it this far we want to say well done for
sticking with us on whats been quite a long pursuit.
Over this series weve covered a lot of ground and hope
youve picked up some useful applied technique for the
filthier side of dubstep. Though you will of course aspire
to produce to the standard of your heroes, dont forget
our tips on experimenting with your ideas to discover
something unique.
This attitude is what will continue to push the scene
forwards, striving to achieve the same FM8- and
Massive-based bass sounds that the masses will not.
We wish you all the best with your efforts and dont
forget to see each project through to completion when
possible, as its the final tasks that are the hardest
skills to master. MTF

Sample-based MIDI instruments may also benefit from some de-clicking,


especially if youve been heavily re-sampling bass from your own creations. You
can move the start point with a Snap To Zero Crossing setting enabled, or, like audio
parts, you can use the attack and decay or release stages as fades to smooth out any
clicks and pops.

03

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MTF Reviews Live 9 Suite & Push: the original review

MTF Reviews
Hardware

Software

Mobile

Accessories

For PC
& Mac

ABLETON

Live 9 Suite
& Push
To those of you new to
Ableton Live 9 and
Push, heres Liam
OMullanes original
MT review
Details
Price
Push & Live 9 Intro
429
Push & Live 9 668
Push & Live 9 Suite
863
Live 9 Intro 69
Live 9 299
Live 9 Suite 519
Contact
Ableton
+49 302 887 630
Web
www.ableton.com

Key Features
LIVE 9 SUITE
54GB of content,
40 effects, 9
instruments, Max
for Live
Enhanced mixing
devices and new
Glue Compressor
Improved
Browser layout
and functionality
32-/64-bit plug-in
support
Session View
automation
PUSH
Solid build
(weight 2.99kg)
Bright, colourful
RGB pads
4-row LCD display
Touch-sensitive
encoders
Velocity-sensitive
pads with
aftertouch

fter an incredibly long wait


since version 8s release, Live
9 is finally here, accompanied
by an Ableton-developed
controller called Push. This is a
controller that Ableton describes as an
instrument, which sounds promising as
Live itself has long been seen as more
of a creative, compositional tool than an
audio/MIDI workhorse for the studio.
Lives primary appeal has always
been its two distinct approaches to
workflow and the way in which they
interact. For structuring tracks,
Arrangement View enables you to work
from left to right in a linear fashion.
Session View, meanwhile, is a looporiented mode, letting you focus on
musical ideas or sketches without
needing to think about the arrangement
stage. Its very much the reason why
many people turn to Live even if its not
their primary platform.
These part-time users often believe
that Live isnt up to the task of full track
creation and mixing, probably because
Live has been slow to incorporate
certain features that users of other
DAWs take for granted. For instance,
automation curves have only just
been added, and you still cant
take the classic approach of
recording lanes of audio
for compiling together
quickly afterwards.
But thats missing
the point: Live
isnt the same as
other DAWs, so
its wrong to try

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MT122.review live9 & push.indd 104

Excellence

10/10
to compare them in such a literal way,
feature for feature.

Making introductions
Live 9 comes in three flavours: Intro,
Standard and Suite. As youd expect, the
entry-level Intro has limitations that
reflect its price. These include a small
number of idea spaces in Session View
(Scenes), a maximum of 16 audio/MIDI
tracks, and just two audio inputs and

and for the rest of this review, the


features discussed relate to these
versions only.
After the 54GB install of Live Suite
(Standard is a 12GB install), its evident
from browsing the library that version 9
is more complete than ever (the
complete package can be installed
piecemeal if you prefer). Various genre
styles and instrument types are

Its evident when looking


through the library that version 9
is more complete than ever
outputs. However, you do get a perfectly
respectable, though small, production
centre including drum devices and
sample-based instruments along with
Lives flexible real-time audio warping.
The feature set gets
Choice
deeper as you move up
to the next two versions,

9/10
9
9/
10

included in Suite far too many to list


here, see Abletons website full details
but they cover most bases and alone
justify the difference in cost between
Suite and Standard and thats before
weve even looked at the other
Suite-only features.

A full suite
Audio content aside, there are
some other significant
differences between Suite and
Standard. Standard comes
with the same three
sample-based
instrument devices
as Intro, but it offers
much more in terms
of factory content.

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Live 9 Suite & Push: the original review Reviews MTF

Alternatives
For hardware control of software with visual
feedback on the device itself, both NIs Maschine
(483) and AKAIs MPC Studio (350) may suit
your needs. These arent quite as in-depth in terms
of features and flexibility, though. Live 9 could be
purchased alone and used alongside Novations Launchpad S (150),
AKAIs APC 20 (170) or APC 40 (290). These are all a solid choice for
performance control, but they dont cater for expressive musical input in
terms of notes. Other comparable software options are FruityLoops
Signature Bundle ($299) from Image-Line and Propellerheads Reason
(349). These both have very intuitive GUI designs, a healthy library of
sounds and instruments, and are easy to pick up and learn.

Note Box now has reverse, invert, legato (to modify notes end to end) and duplicate loop, which
doubles the loop brace and its content. These all help speed up workflow and encourage creativity.

Suites instrument collection, however,


is a lot more comprehensive,
comprising analogue-style synth
sounds from Analog, rich-sounding
percussion from Collision, Electric
pianos from Electric and string
modelling from Tension. Operator caters
for FM synthesis and Sampler offers a
professional level of sampling that can
accommodate multiple sample
key-mapping and layering.
In terms of processing, Standard has
quite a few more effects than Intro,
though Suite boasts the excellent Amp
and Cabinet devices, which will
otherwise be add-on purchases. These
provide guitarists with sonic textures on
tap, though they can be applied to pretty
much any sound in need of a new sonic
identity. Corpus is another effect that
can create something unique as it adds
simulated acoustic resonance.

Max(imum) benefit
While Suites comprehensive features
make up at least 50 per cent of its
attraction, for us the real deal-sealer is
the inclusion of Max for Live. For the

MTF Navigation Push control


AUTOMATION
Moving an encoder will
override any automation for that
parameter in a clip. Hit this button to
record changes, or combine with
[Shift] to revert to clip automation.

uninitiated, Max is a graphical


programming environment that was
previously a separate purchase from
Live 8. It offers two main advantages to
the Live user. The first is access to the
wealth of Max-created devices already
in existence; the second is the ability to
create your own devices, limited only by
your imagination.
The Max for Live library now
includes some excellent devices
including Convolution Reverb Pro, Note
Echo (for re-creating that classic MIDI
sequenced effect) and API tools that
enable you to map LFOs, envelope
followers, randomisers and more to any
parameter within a Live project. Max for
Live is attractive to technical nerds as
well as musicians or engineers who just
want to access more practical and
creative tools.

The newcomers
Both Suite and Standard have some
other fantastic new features. Highlights
include Audio to MIDI, the Glue
Compressor and some well thought-out
overhauls of other mixing devices.

While its not a real-time option,


Audio to MIDI lets you analyse an audio
file and turn it into a drum pattern,
melody or harmonic content for chords.
The facility to sing an idea into Live or
drop in a file recorded on your phone
(perhaps captured during a moment of
inspiration) is a huge time-saver and
enhances workflow a great deal. Its
also useful for adding that human feel
to your drum work record yourself
tapping or beatboxing a rhythm and
turn it into a drum pattern.
Other uses could include
transcribing material for covers,
mimicking a part in a track for remixing
purposes, or taking a drum pattern to
make your own. It isnt a flawless
process, but the most unexpected
results come from the usual suspects
of dense, layered or noisy material,
which is always difficult for a computer
to decipher. In most cases, though, the
results are very usable.
Glue Compressor does the job that a
good buss compressor should making
individual elements sound cohesive as a
whole when processed as a group. We
NAVIGATION
BUTTONS
In Session mode
these let you
navigate around
your session, clips
and scenes. In Note
mode you can move
left/right between
tracks and up/down
to move between
scenes and launch
them immediately.

ENCODERS
All encoders are touch-sensitive, which enhances the LCD
screens function as it displays relevant material as you work.

a
b
PADS
The main 8x8
grid of pads are very
firm and take a while to
get used to. Sensitivity
and velocity curves can
be user-defined.

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also like its saturation stage, which can


be used to push the signal into the red if
you want to introduce some character.
EQ Eight has had its most significant
overhaul since Live 8, particularly in
respect to the new spectral analyser.
We never really got on with Live 8s
Spectrum device as you had to put an
instance on every track if you wanted to
do track-by-track analysis while EQing
a mix. Since youll almost certainly use
an EQ per track anyway, the
incorporating of a spectral analyser into
EQ Eight is a welcome practical step.

input and output levels and thresholds.


This makes them much easier to set up
quickly, yet accurately.

Lives new browser


layout makes it much
easier to navigate the
included library. Its also
easier to move between
user-defined locations
as they are now situated
on the lower left-hand
side rather than in a
dropdown menu.

Streamliner
Before we look at how Push may
redefine how you interact with Live, well
take a moment to cover improvements
to Live 9s workflow from a
programming point of view.
Session and Arrangement Views are
finally truly united, with automation
that works between both Views for
audio and MIDI clips. It may sound

Session and Arrangement


Views are finally truly united with
automation for audio and MIDI

basis. MIDI editing has also had some


useful improvements, as mentioned in
the box to the upper left.

Pushing on
Other new additions include an Audition
mode for helping you to hear the
frequency band youre working on, and
an Adaptive mode that adjusts the EQ
filters Q width as you change the gain
amount, resulting in a much more
musical sound.
Two other devices to undergo
updates are Compressor and Gate,
which now have graphical feedback on

bizarre, but this wasnt implemented


before, which was always counterintuitive considering the otherwise
close integration between both Views.
Automation can now be recorded in
Session View as well and the global
Back To Arrangement button which
stopped all Session View clips in order
to return playback to Arrangement View
can now be controlled on a per-track

For the second part of this review its


time to turn to Abletons Push
instrument, which at first glance
appears to do much the same things as
other Live controllers on the market
launch clips, control devices and
generally navigate around Session View.
But while Push does offer this type of
control, switching to Note Mode allows
you to create MIDI, audio or return

MTF Power User Q&A Rik Simpson


From Coldplay to Jay Z, Rik has produced and written for an
impressive array of big-name artists. We caught up with him to hear
his verdict on Abletons new combo.

Sun, sea and sound: Rik


working on his own
material on the edge of
the Indian Ocean.

MT: Your website describes Live as A DAW that makes you think
differently. What feature has changed how you work with Live?
RS: Live 9 seems snappier than 8. The new browser is really
speeding up my work flow its much more intuitive than before
and searching for files in the search field is considerably quicker. A
close second favourite new feature would be the visual feedback
you now get from the Compressor, EQ and Gate plug-ins, which also
makes it quicker to get a result.
MT: What in Live 9s new features represents the biggest sonic
improvement for you?
RS: That would have to be the oversampling option in the EQ Eight
and Glue plug-ins they add a lovely fidelity. The Glue plug-in is
amazing, by the way. Ive been using the Cymotic plug-in for a few
years now its great to have it so integrated within Live.
MT: Have you explored any Max For Live devices yet?
RS: To be honest Ive mainly been playing with the Max For Live
presets up until now. Ive downloaded a few fun devices
ultraGlitcher and The Granulizator by Design the Media, for
example but havent really got in that deep yet. Im more
interested in eventually making my own stuff but Max has a such a
steep learning curve. Its very nature as an open-ended piece of

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software makes it hard to


pin down. Ive got the Live 9 tutorials by MacProVideo which
are great. Theres one Ive just started on Max For Live so Im
beginning to break the crust so to speak.
MT: What do you plan to explore next when you have time?
RS: Push is a game-changer for me. It actually does what so many
other controllers over the years have failed to do: it feels and reacts
like a real instrument. Partly due I think to its tight integration with
the software but also because of the feel of the pads which are
tactile and responsive. Ive come up with riffs and shapes that I
wouldnt normally gravitate towards its opened up a new area for
me. Ill definitely be delving deeper over the next few weeks.

FOCUS

11/02/2015 15:59

Live 9 Suite & Push: the original review Reviews MTF

MTF Power User Q&A Felix Martin

MT: Do you have a favourite sound design tool in 9?


FM: Now that Max For Live is included in Suite, Live
functions more like a huge modular synth. I like
grabbing the Max LFO device and applying it to any
Felix Martin: getting creative
with Live 9 and Push in very
parameter a simple but textured way to get life and
short order.
MT: Whats the most striking new feature in Live 9?
variation to sounds. Functional tools like EQ, Gate and
FM: The Audio To MIDI tool is the first feature that caught my
Compressor have improved to the point where Im not so tempted
attention. Id always loved this type of function in Melodyne so
to use third-party plug-ins. Its nice that Ableton has put focus on
having it integrated into Live is great. It seems to be part of the
these building blocks rather than just cool DJ-friendly features.
ongoing work from Ableton to smooth the interaction between
audio and MIDI really useful when working between synthetic
MT: How have you found Push in terms of workflow?
tones and textures and acoustic ones. As I have no formal musical
FM: Ive been using Live for so long that Im still unlearning the
training its really handy to transcribe chords or a melody of interest
habits Ive gained. But the concept of being able to turn off the
to then pick apart and analyse. Considering its the first
screen is brilliant. Ive put together a couple of tracks with Push
implementation of the tool, I think it works really well. I also love
alone in a very short time by creating drum patterns, adding
the improved browser as its much quicker to access everything I
modulation effects, playing chords and melodies. I like the way it
have, which in turn leads to a more varied approach to arranging
functions as a musical keyboard with visual aids when set to
and selecting sounds. I compose by fiddling with MIDI sequences a
different chords or scales. This opens up new composition options
lot, so the improved editing tools are also very welcome.
to someone whos pretty ignorant in music theory.
Hotchip member and one half of New Build talks to MT
while hes on the road away from his own Lanark
Studios, London. We discuss his favourite new Live 9
features and how Push opens up new avenues.

tracks. You can also step-sequence


drum patterns, play in melodic parts via
its intuitive Scales interface, add Audio
devices for further processing and
generally shape your sound using the
eight encoders and touchstrip for
tweaking and automation passes.
Drum parts can be recorded in using
the lower-left quarter of 16 pads,
step-sequenced using the upper
portion half, or sequenced in real time
using the Repeat tool. The latter is like

Scales is the most unique aspect of


Push, as you may have gathered from
the online promo videos. Its flexible
enough to let you switch keys from
minor to major, and switch between six
keys immediately so you can jam
between them. The choice of scale style
can also be changed via an encoder.
We found the learning curve of Push
to be incredibly gentle and the Scales
approach certainly opens up new ideas.
Within minutes we were creating

The learning curve is incredibly


gentle and the Scales approach
certainly opens up new ideas
the classic Note Repeat function on
AKAIs famous MPCs. The pads are
velocity-sensitive and include
aftertouch, so dynamic parts can be
created with Repeat for elements such
as hi-hats, or instruments can be
modulated while the pad is held down
with varying pressure. Parts can be
quantized and throughout your use of
Push, an Undo button gives you the
same flexibility of undoing and redoing
your work, just as you can onscreen.

musical elements, which are stored as


Scenes within Live and it can all be
done without looking at your computer.
Live 9 builds further on the already
solid foundations of Live 8. Push is a
great first foray into hardware, though
some minor functions have not been
implemented as yet. However, as
updates are released, were sure users
needs will be addressed, and we can
see a bright future for the companys
bold move into hardware. MTF

MTF Verdict
LIVE 9 SUITE

+ Excellent value for money


+ Extensive library content
+ Max for Live
+ New device enhancements and
additions really help craft a mix
+ Session and Arrangement Views
better integrated
Live 9 is an excellent example of
how a company can radically
update its software while retaining
the familiarity and ease of
workflow that made it so attractive
in the first place. The new tools and
features certainly improve its
capabilities and should keep users
happy for a good while to come.

10 /10

MTF Verdict
PUSH

+ Gentle learning curve


+ Offers true hardware-only
control during the compositional
stage of music creation
+ Can be powered via USB or mains
power supply (included)
- Not aimed at loop importing and
loop-based creativity
- Doesnt act as a central hub for
other controllers
A promising start for a wellintegrated, composition-focused
hardware controller. The heavy
focus on MIDI doesnt open up full
access to Lives creative
capabilities, but we look forward to
new features in the future.

When it comes to mixing, the overhauled EQ Eight, Compressor, Gate and new Glue Compressor
really up Lives game in terms of mixing and controlling your sound to microscopic levels of detail.

9 /10

Method Spot
When youve got a
feel for Lives new
go-to mixing tools,
its a good idea to
store them as a
default for any new
track you create in
the future. Once you
have an audio or
MIDI track as you
would like your
defaults to be,
right-/[Ctrl]-click
(PC/Mac) the title
bar of the track and
select Save As
Default MIDI/Audio
Track. Wed
recommend having
all tracks begin
with an EQ for
general frequency
house- keeping
(making use of its
new steep low- and
high-pass filters),
then a dynamic
device, another EQ
for mix-shaping
and a Limiter or
Saturator at the
end to catch any
stray peaks.

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015

MT122.review live9 & push.indd 107

| 107

11/02/2015 16:00

Technique | Glitch Tactics

BT And The Stutter Edit


US-based electronic artist Brian
Transeau, or BT, is a pioneer of
elaborate audio editing. His
technique, the stutter edit,
involves fast rhythmic audio
repetitions that range from
machine gun 32nd- and
64th-note rolls up to buzzing
128th-note streams and beyond.
Transeau set up his Sonik
Architects software brand to
develop his own personal range
of futuristic, glitch-inducing
tools, designed to execute his
micro-editing tasks in real time.
After his company was
acquired by iZotope, two of BTs
plug-in concepts have been
released commercially. Stutter
Edit is a live remixing
multi-effect that enables the
user to fire off a multitude of
tempo-synced effects such as
repeating, filters, delays and

distortion, consolidating many


complex processes into simple
Gestures that are triggered by
MIDI key presses. BreakTweaker
is a drum sequencer that allows
you to manipulate audio at a
molecular level, employing
Transeaus micro-editing
techniques on a per-step basis
to generate blistering tonal
repetitions and glitched-out
percussion sequences.
While these plug-ins make
micro-editing seem easy, you
can revert back to the old-school
method and explore the manual
micro-editing of audio files.
Slice out a tiny chunk of a drum
hit, delete the rest, turn off your
hosts quantise and duplicate
the segment many times.
Increasing or decreasing the
spaces in between each event
over time will give a familiar

Glitch techniques

70

a musical tone a rudimentary


form of granular synthesis.
Listen to BTs signature stutter
on Simply Being Loved

Free plug-in Buffer


Override is a handy tool
for quickly emulating
the effect of detailed
micro-edits

(Somnambulist) (http://bit.ly/
BTVocalFM), which holds the
Guinness World Record for the
most vocal edits in one song.

BreakTweaker

Manual
Micro-Editing

A drum sequencer
for beat layering,
programming and
composition. Each
sequencer step can
be divided up into
tiny fragments,
facilitating speedy
beat repeats
and buzzing
glitch effects.

Glitch programming
is more arduous
without dedicated
glitch tools. But, you
have complete
control over your
stutters, and you can
call upon choice
third-party effects
within your host.

As we dont all have time to spend a


week on a single edit, dedicated glitch
plug-ins are now commonplace. Stuttering
tools and signal-repeating plug-ins such as
Ableton Lives Beat Repeat and DestroyFXs
free Buffer Override sample incoming
audio in a buffer; the buffers information is
then processed and replayed at various
user-defined rhythmic intervals. Idiosyncratic

edits and turntable stop effects are widely


heard both on the radio and in the club.

Glitch-style edits have traditionally been


achieved through laborious, time-consuming
editing sessions. An audio editor or DAW
allows the user to zoom in on a waveform
and perform minute edits at sample level. To
craft fast repeats and stutters, larger
sections of audio can be chopped up into
small chunks, which are then duplicated,
repeated and re-sequenced directly on a
hosts arrange page. Each individual slither
of audio can then be time-stretched,
pitchshifted, reversed or chopped up further.
Various audio effects reverb, distortion,
filtering, modulation, you name it can also
be applied on a per-segment basis.

winding up/down effect


comparable to a spluttering CD
drive. Once above a certain
speed, repetitions will generate

effects such as Sonic Charges Bitspeek and


the Glitchmachines range of plug-ins
transform signals into malfunctioning,
mechanised squeaks and beeps reminiscent
of gremlin-infested machinery and
malfunctioning circuits.
Fast-paced IDM-style edits demand the
use of several different processes in fast
succession, so many modern glitch plug-ins
provide an array of useful
processors within one
user interface. These
powerful multi-effects
Illformeds Glitch 2,
iZotopes Stutter Edit and
Sugar Bytes Effectrix and
Looperator being just a
few offer a way to
trigger their modules
influence within a scale
of beat divisions. Synced with your hosts
tempo, the effects are triggered via incoming
MIDI notes or a step sequencer interface,
making them ideal for on-the-fly remixing
and laptop-based live performances.
Due to their rhythmic nature, drums and
synth sequences respond particularly well to
glitch processing: a lacklustre percussion
loop can quickly be rearranged in real time;
a vanilla rhythm track can be spiced up with
a particularly ear-grabbing edit; vocals are
prime candidates for glitching, as they
command the listeners attention in a mix;
sustained synth sounds can be stuttered,
transposed and delayed to form sparser,
glitched-out sequences. Try treating all
manner of sounds with glitch-style
processing for unexpected results.

Drums and synth


sequences respond
particularly well to
glitch processing

Glitch Tactics | Technique

Glitch Tips
Be prepared to break the rules a little audio
misuse can lead to some interesting results
Sampler tricks

Weve utilised audio editing


and real-time processing
techniques in this feature,
but practise your samplerwielding skills, too. By looping a small
section of a sample, then automating
or modulating the loops start and end
points, youll conceive a myriad of
customisable electro-glitches and
buzzing timbres. Pitched turntable
stops, extreme pitchshifting and
unorthodox rolling effects are also
easily achieved via the wealth of
features your sampler has to offer.
Automate multiple parameters to
introduce even more interest.

Get set to record

Ever encountered
unexpected audio glitches,
digital clipping, plug-in
pops/clicks or other
malfunctioning errors? If youre after
authentic glitch noises and tones,
prepare for these sonic mishaps and
be ready to record them through your
audio interface (or using real-time
recording software) you never know
what could become your next hi-hat
or synth tone. You can encourage
these glitches through experimental
patch-cabling and studio rewiring
mishaps failing cables and broken
gear are your friends!

Collate your takes

Most DAWs now offer some


kind of comping feature,
traditionally used to compile
the best vocal passages
from a multitude of takes. Use this
function to collate the results of
lengthy glitch-tweaking sessions. If
your host doesnt have dedicated
vocal comping tools, simply stack
up your glitch renders on separate
audio tracks, cut them up, then use
the mute tool to silence the
unwanted segments.

Custom chains

While there are plenty of


useful multi-effect plug-ins
available, any producer with
an internet connection can

access the exact same software and


presets, meaning the release of an
epic new effect plug-in is often
succeeded with a wave of
homogenous, cookie-cutter glitch
edits and fills. Go against the grain
and instead build up your own custom
glitch chains of effects or even
entire project templates primed to
propagate dazzling (and bespoke)
results. Plus, if your plug-ins allow,
hook up multiple parameters to single
macro controls and get tweaking.

Databending

An infinite universe of
oddball sounds can be
generated by opening media
files in the wrong software
a process known as databending. By
loading non-audio files into an audio
editing program as raw data, the
software attempts to interpret the
data and creates unpredictable noise
bursts, scratches, glitches and
weirdness as a by-product. Remember
to render your favourite new creations
out to your sample folder.

Glitch your verbs

Crush On You

Nothing touches the humble


bitcrusher when it comes to
emulating the sonic
degradation of hardware samplers
and malfunctioning digital gear.
Subdued application adds a subtle,
lo-fi vibe to pristine sounds; more
heavy-handed quantities reduce
signals to a nasty fuzz. Bit-depth
and sample-rate reduction effects
are especially effective sequenced
within beat divisions over a drum
loop: for example, you can target a
grooves snare in isolation with
extreme bitcrushing while leaving
other elements untouched.
Automating a bitcrushers
parameters over short time periods
can also coax out glitch-style
crushed drums and noise snippets.

Reverb is an effect that


responds well to abnormal
glitching techniques. When
we hear the initial portion of
a long reverb signal, our brain
naturally expects the tail to decay over
a certain period of time. Breaking this
expectation by cutting a reverb tail
off to silence triggers a stark
psychoacoustic response for a
distinctly unnatural effect. Try
combining extended reverb tails with
staccato sections for contrast.

Schoolboy error

The complexity of fast glitch


effects makes them
outlandishly impressive,
leading novice producers to
stuff their projects with excessive
buzzes, rolls, scratches and stutters.
Exercise restraint, and save the most
complex effects for when your track
really needs them, otherwise your
flashy hyper-edits will quickly lose
their impact. Remember, less is more.

73

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