Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tricks
Tutorials
Dr
Beat
with Ronan Macdonald
#03
Linear drumming
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NEXT MONTH Ronan runs down some common rookie drum programming errors
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Ableton Live The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live Part 3
Processing
yourbeats
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
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.
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.
01
03
05
02
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| 47
W orldM ags.net
MT Step-by-Step Processing your beats... contd
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.
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
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MAGAZINE
08
10
12
W orldM ags.net
MTStep-by-Step Processing your beats... contd
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%.
13
15
17
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MAGAZINE
14
16
18
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.
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!
58
Groove Management
Alternative Velocities
>
>
Grooves With
Unusual Rhythms
>
8
>
VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD
59
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
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.
How to Apply a
Groove and
Make it Stick!
01 >
03 >
04 >
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 >
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.
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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MAGAZINE
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.
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.
01
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| 57
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.
01
03
05
02
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| 59
Powered by
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,
64 | January 2014
MAGAZINE
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.
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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.
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.
01
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05
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06
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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."
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.
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
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.
Track Freezing
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
>
>
Notes Plus
>
>
10
VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD
63
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
Hook Up Your
Favourite Synth
To Live
01 >
02 >
03 >
04 >
05 >
65
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!
58
Groove Management
Alternative Velocities
>
>
Grooves With
Unusual Rhythms
>
8
>
VIDEO ON
THE DVD
Watch the tutorial
movie on the DVD
59
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
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.
How to Apply a
Groove and
Make it Stick!
01 >
03 >
04 >
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 >
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.
On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the DVD
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.
FOCUS
11/02/2015 14:26
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
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
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
| 79
11/02/2015 14:26
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
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
FOCUS
11/02/2015 14:26
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
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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.
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
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.
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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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.
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03
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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.
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07
08
08
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11
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
12
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
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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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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).
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
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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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.
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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.
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.
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
FOCUS Ableton Live 2015
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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.
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
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
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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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.
03
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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
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.
In the beginning
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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 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
03
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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
01
IMAGE BOX
02
03
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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
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On the disc
Accompanying
example audio files
included on the 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.
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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11/02/2015 15:08
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
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.
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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$
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
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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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
03
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11/02/2015 15:08
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
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
9/10
9
9/
10
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.
FOCUS
11/02/2015 15:59
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.
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
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.
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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11/02/2015 15:59
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
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
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
FOCUS
11/02/2015 15:59
MTF Verdict
LIVE 9 SUITE
10 /10
MTF Verdict
PUSH
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.
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11/02/2015 16:00
Glitch techniques
70
(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.
Glitch Tips
Be prepared to break the rules a little audio
misuse can lead to some interesting results
Sampler tricks
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!
Custom chains
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.
Crush On You
Schoolboy error
73