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These videos are pretty interesting! Who knew they used Reverb in the Mastering process?
Check out Puremagnetik’s Clap Box for iPad, iPod and iPhone, it is a fantastic emulator of the Simmons Clap Trap, an iconic 1980s “Handclap Synthesizer” whose unique sound can be heard across much of early electronica.
Clap Box is a perfect emulation of the original that includes modern enhancements like Core MIDI, microphone triggering and BPM matching, so claps can be triggered by actually clapping, touching an on screen button, or automatically by tempo.
In this article we will take a glance at filters. Filters are effects that are used to effect certain frequencies of a signal.
Types of filters:
Low pass filter - only allows low frequencies below a set frequency to pass out of the output of the effect
Low cut filter - cuts low frequencies below a set frequency
Band pass filter - only allows a set frequency and its immediate neighboring frequencies to pass
High pass filter - works basically the same as a low cut filter but cuts the lower frequencies in a slightly different way
High cut filter - works basically the same as a low pass filter bu cuts he higher frequencies in a slightly different way
Examples of where these filters are applied:
Many delay plugins and units have the ability to pass high and low from set frequencies in the wet signal
Low pass is commonly used in dance music on kick drums and bass elements and automated to open out the track, the same is commonly done on hi hats, snares, vocals, kicks and bass using high pass to thin a track out into a breakdown.
Check out this great free VST software instrument from Togu Audio Line.
Features:
- 3 Oscillators
- Adjustable master tune and transpose.
- Up to 6 voices.
- Portamento in mono and poly mode (off, auto, on).
- Ringmod modulates Osc 1 with Osc 2
- Self resonating 4x oversampled filters (24 dB LP, 18 dB LP, 12 dB LP, 6 dB LP, 12 dB HP, 12 dB BP, Notch)
- Filter ADSR (negative and positive)
- Volume ADSR
- Routable ADSR, modulates Filter, Osc 1, Osc 2, PW, FM (negative and positive)
- 2 LFO’s with different running modes: free, sync to host, triggered by note.
- Modulates filter, osc 1, osc 2, fm, pw, lfo rate, panorama and volume.
- Sine, triangle, saw square, s&h, noise.
- Positive and negative modulation.
- Phase control.
- Adjustable Velocity dependent control over volume filter contour and cutoff.
- Adjustable Pitch Wheel control over Cutoff and Pitch.
- Detune, detunes notes randomly.
- Juno chorus with different modes.
- A built in reverb.
- A built in delay.
- Adjustable filter drive.
- Bitcrusher
- Midi learn for all knobs.
- Easy to use, no hidden panels.
- 256 great presets
Download it for free here
You will have probably heard an effect in various genres of electronic and urban music where the bass and many other elements seem to drop in volume and suck in around the kick drum and sometimes the snare. This is done with sidechaining. It’s popular across dubstep, house, drum’n’bass, hip-hop and many other genres and adds movement and energy to your mix and to your kick drums.
In this article, we’ll be looking at how to achieve this effect in Logic. So first thing, get your track up that you want to do this in, or program in a simple kick drum pattern and bass or synth line.
Now with the kick drum we will be sending it to a bus track, instead of directly to the stereo output. I like to keep the first few busses for reverbs and other blend effects, so I usually put this onto bus 11, but any bus will do.
Now with your synth or bass, you need to send this to a different bus track, again, any bus will do, but I send to bus 10. On this auxillary track open up Logic’s Compressor plugin, it is within this plugin that the effect is made. In the top right corner there is a box that says Side Chain: None, open this box up and from the drop down menu select Bus 11 (or whatever bus track you sent your kick drum to).
Now I usually put my gain to 0.5, so it’s just a bit hotter. Set the Knee to 0.0 for hard compression, and bring the ratio up to get more of a pumping effect. Set the attack somewhere between 0.5 to 4ms and tweak as needed, this determines the amount of time that it takes to quite this signal when the kick drum hits, and the release determines the amount of time it takes to get back up to it’s original level, so this should be quite short aswell, experiment with it any between 2 and 10ms. The compressor threshold will determine how deep the sidechain effect will go, or how quite this signal will go when the kick drum strikes. There you have a basic sidechain effect, experiment with it to get it right for your track. Anything can be added to this signal just by sending it to the bus, or you can set up other sidechain compression bus tracks if you want slightly different settings on other elements of your track.
Tell us who you are and what style of music you produce
My name is Mr.Witts, I’m 24 and I live in Stroud. I produce Hip Hop/ Rap music, what some would consider to be underground but I’m a fan of hooks and a good song structure as opposed to just a loop. Although clearly there are times when all that is needed is a killer loop and an on point MC to make a great Hip Hip record. People always say that they instantly know a ‘Witts’ beat when they hear one which is a compliment…..or not…. ha ha.
How long have you been producing?
I used to make beat box/rap tapes when I was about 16 using a cheap mic recording straight on to mini disc, then play the mini disc out of my stereo whilst rapping and recording the combination, this was a very crude way of doing things but it was fun…… I then got an old version of Cubase, a Tascam interface and an SM58, I didn’t really get many good results out of that as it was a really bad version and only had about three plug ins.
I lost interest for a bit until I was about 19 a local trip hop band Alcatraz Swim Team inspired me to start again and get better. I downloaded a version of Fruity Loops and started making grime…..Released my first mixtape ‘Bdot Recordingz vol.1’. Its still available in Kanes Record Shop In Stroud…..Its terrible and only had the vocals coming out the left speaker. I then got a copy of Reason and Ableton and an SE condensor mic and made ‘We Ain’t Rich Yet’ my first album, properly pressed on CD etc. Then from the money I made off that and working hard I purchased what is still my set up now, Mac, Logic, Pro Tools, Groove Tube GT 57 mic, Akai MPK controller….So far I’ve produced and released ‘The 25th Hour’ and ‘Dopeless Flowmantic’ with this set up.
What made you start your own label?
A record label is easy to set up as all that constitutes a record label is someone selling music- so in a very basic form I had a record label when I was shotting my mixtape around, I was making tiny bits of money off selling product- that’s what its all about. But making sleeping dragon records was much more of a solidified, professional approach. I wanted to present my music in a modern, accessible way so a website was the way to do this. The whole thing with social networking is important but it is ever changing, who can guarantee all Facebook will be around in a years time? My label website is totally under my control. Setting the website up and starting the ‘proper’ label was my personal way of recognizing that my music had got better and progressed and therefore the way I distributed it needed to improve.
Talk us through your typical production process (software, sounds, rhythm, influence, etc)
I usually start with sampling something- that could be anything and I always fuck with the sound of the thing I sample e.g. pitch up or down, reverse…… I usually chop it up MPC style and I pride myself on using samples in a non obvious way- hopefully you would have a hard time noticing the original song in any (bar a few) of my tracks. In my room at the moment I have an electric bass, an acoustic bass, an acoustic guitar, a brass baritone, a trombone and an weird little Irish Whistle! This reflects how these days I like to play alot of stuff rather than using MIDI instruments….I used to play in a brass band so I can read music but I wouldn’t have said this has benefited my production that much, its cool though. In recent years I’ve played in my own drums on the MPK to give a swing feel but I’m still perfecting that- I still quantize some of the hits after playing them in… I like synths, I use Rob Papen’s Albino software synth alot and a Camel Audio synth less so. I’ve recently started recording some MIDI parts on to tape and then recording from tape back in to Logic to literally get that tape saturation… I use Waves and PSP plug ins alot.
What one piece of advice would you pass on or one piece of software/hardware you would recommend to other producers?
Don’t worry about what software/equipment you have, you can get amazing results out of basic, cheap stuff so just because you don’t have a Mac or Pro Tools doesn’t mean you cant do your thing. It pisses me off how everyone uses the same kit these days and I’m guilty of having a pretty ‘standard’ set up myself….. just because you have a Mac doesn’t make you a good producer, kids now are too quick to ask mum and dad for the ‘best’ kit without slaving away with shit stuff before- they’ll never appreciate it to the extent they could and should do. Also try and have your own style and approach- in my opinion just because someone can imitate popular, contemporary styles of production and bang out amazing, crisp commercial sounding beats still doesn’t make them a good producer…Influence is cool but Imitation is boring to produce-do your own thing.
Where can we hear more of your stuff or find more out about you?
Check the website www.sleepingdragonrecords.co.uk The albums I mentioned are all up for free download so help your self!
Tell us who you are and what style of music you produce
My name is Random Dready, I’m a producer from Gloucester in the UK. I produce dubstep but I’m learning to produce different genres.
How long have you been producing?
Not long I think about….9 months now so I’m still an amateur and got a lot to learn.
How did the Street Fighter track come about and how did you get Capcoms attention?
I’ve always wanted to make music based on computer games and anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Street Fighter. I asked a good friend of mine,
Murdok if he wanted to collab, as we were talking about collaborating for ages when I started producing. On the Capcom side of things, they were doing a Street Fighter celebration as it’s the 25th anniversary of the game and asked fans to upload their tributes like music, art and what not. So I thought I might as well upload mine and Murdoks tune, got nothing to lose. Then about 2 months later they emailed me and I quote,
“We wanted to extend you a special invitation to have your song “Street Fighter Dubstep be included on a CD that we’d like to include in a very limited anniversary collector’s set that we’ll be announcing next week” along with more information. So I decided to send them the tune and now I’m waiting for the collectors set to come out). I was really pleased about this opportunity they gave me, considering this was my very first production and I’m a huge fan of their games. The tune has had amazing feedback, an MC vocalled it and someone made a remix too.
Talk us through the production of the track
We used Ableton live to make the track, me and Murdok both did our parts. I provided the samples and made the dubstep wobs in Sylenth and some of the bass, he made the drums and most of the mix down.
I decided what samples to use and where to place them etc etc. we made different tracks, backed up what we were doing and decided which sounded better. It was good team work! Big up Murdok as well couldn’t of done it without him!
What one piece of advice would you pass on or one piece of software/hardware you would recommend to other producers?
Sign out of Facebook and put in the work lol! Nah on a real just keep practicing, work hard and don’t be lazy. Don’t be impatient because you can’t rush art and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. I remember someone saying “Everybody wants to eat the food but nobody wants to cook it”
Also don’t gas about yourself, keep it humble. Get some decent speakers/monitor headphones as well, a midi keyboard and a good computer that won’t slow down when you’re making music to start yourself off. Also do some research on what software looks good to use. For me I use a Macbook Pro with Logic Pro and a load of plug ins with Ableton and Reason for Rewiring. Alesis 520 speakers, Audio Technica ath m50 headphones and a M-Audio Axiom 25 keyboard.
Where can we hear more of your stuff or find more out about you?
You can find me on these sites:
https://www.facebook.com/RandomDready
twitter: @randomdready
http://soundcloud.com/randomdready
You can find Murdok as well on:
http://soundcloud.com/murdok-dubstep
https://www.facebook.com/MurdokDubstep
http://www.youtube.com/user/MurdokDubstep
Be sure to check him out!
LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. They are used to control different elements or effects within a synthesizer. Whenever you hear the dubstep ‘wob’ sound, that is made using an LFO.
LFOs can be made to control a lot of different things, typically filters, volumes, but sometimes individual oscillators or even effects within the synth.
LFOs modulate these elements according to a set frequency or rate, however some software synths also have step performers within the LFO meaning you can modulate according to a pattern.
Examples of how you can use LFOs:
To modulate volume for a tremolo effect
To modulate tuning for a vibrato effect
To modulate filters to achieve classic synth sounds
Tell us who you are and what style of music you produce
Hi, my name is Chris Price (aka Priceless), I’m 16 and an urban producer from the Gloucester area, my two favourite and most prominent genres to both listen to and produce are Grime and Rap. But I pride myself in being as experimental as possible with my beats and have produced anything from mainstream style Dubstep for artists to vocal, all the way to more chilled R&B.
I have worked with artists all over the UK and also across in to the U.S.A and Germany. Although I’m still young and a rookie in terms of my popularity, I have recently produced a free track released by legendary Grime MC, Wiley. This has by far been my biggest achievement so far in my career.
How long have you been producing?
I’ve had FL studio in different editions probably for about 3 years now, but back then I was just playing, and pretty terrible! But after watching tutorials and developing my skills since 2011 and especially at the turn of the year into 2012 music has been a lot more serious.
How did the track with Wiley come about?
Well recently Wiley has been releasing a massive series of free tracks included in a mixtape, and posted his email on twitter for producers to send him instrumentals. So I thought I’d give it ago, initially he said thanks for sending something over, but I heard nothing for about a week and a half. I saw new releases by him produced by more well known producers in the Grime Scene. So I didn’t think much of it…
But then suddenly Wiley was on twitter shouting me out as the producer of his new track, entitled “Crystal Clear”! This came totally out of the blue for me and had me buzzing for a good few days! I always envisioned my first breakthrough being a talented upcoming artist in the UK scene; I never expected it to be Wiley of all people. Any grime fan will tell you how much of a legend he is in the music; artists like him and Dizzee Rascal were among the artists that started the genre around 10 years ago now. So it has definitely been massive for me just being your average 16 year old, working with a charting artist! I also found the track on the SBTV website and many other blogs, and got me a bit more recognition which is cool.
Talk us through the production of the track
The melody was made and the beat was arranged and mixed all in FL studio, I used a new purchase of mine, a Maschine Mikro (A Midi Pad Controller similar to an MPC) to live record all of the drums and percussion.
The beat itself is really quite simple…
Well for a start the tempo is immediately sent to 140 BPM – Grime Tempo!
The main Synth Bell/Pluck (heard in the chorus, then in a different variation in the verses) are a group of layered sounds from Sylenth 1 and Gladiator VST Plugins. I also used the same VST’s for the low Synth playing in the choruses of the instrumental. I used Soundfonts for both the Arpeggiated Synth and the Piano. The Sub Bass in the verses are from a VST called Subsonic.
The percussion and drums were all recorded live using the Machine Mikro, and the Maschine Software running as a VST in FL Studio. Some of the samples used I made and others were from the Maschine library.
I listen to music as much as it’s possible to in a day! So inspiration can come from a lot of places because I’m always playing and downloading new tunes. It usually comes from listening to certain genres of music for a prolonged amount of time. My latest instrumental release is Southern Rap in style, which came after listening to a lot of that genre that week. Also on my E.P there is a more Dubstep/Electro/Drum and Bass track, which I got the influence for around the time DJ Fresh – louder was popular, I take influence from a lot of places, but like to think I put my own take on things, there seem to be too many producers that make beats “In the style of” major producers.
What one piece of advice would you pass on or one piece of software/hardware you would recommend to other producers?
As I said, be yourself.
Don’t break the bank! There are plenty of good samples and sounds you can get hold of for free if you’re starting out.
Don’t worry about making money. I still don’t make any money from my instrumentals, it’s best to give out free beats to artists and release free material yourself, and reap the benefits of promotion. Most artists especially in the urban scene don’t want to buy beats unless they are totally exclusive or you are a well know, trusted producer.
Where can we hear more of your material or find more out about you?
Well I’m everywhere!
Twitter – www.twitter.com/PriceProdMusic
Facebook – www.facebook.com/PriceProductionZ Youtube – www.youtube.com/PriceProductionZ
My Free E.P – The Always Grimin’ E.P - http://www.hulkshare.com/rlm2lu2hhg99
Wiley - Crystal Clear (Prod. By Priceless) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVkk2q13C_c
You can download this track as part of Wiley’s new mixtape here
During mixing, it is common to use bussing or sending to auxillary tracks, to send multiple tracks to a channel strip with the same effects and settings. This makes it easier to control a group of sounds at once, and also reduces CPU usage.
What’s the difference?
Bussing is where you send a duplicate of the original signal to an auxillary track, so you effectively have your original and a second version that can be mixed and modified differently, whilst both still play. This is useful for sending multiple tracks to reverbs, setting the reverb on the auxillary track to 100% Wet. You can change the send level of the bus on each to get the right amount of reverb for each sound. This is also typically used for delay, and in some cases compression.
Sending is where the whole signal is sent to a new track, and is only audible through the auxillary track through which it is being sent. This is useful for applying effects to a group of sounds, and makes it easier to automate them for continuity. Sending is used to group sounds into one track.
Panning is placing an element within the stereo field. You will have listened to tracks and probably noticed some sounds are central, some are slightly panned left or hard, and some are hard panned.
In short, typical mixing techniques tend to keep bass elements central, and use panning to place different parts of a drum kit in a stereo mix respective of how the kit is arranged, or to spread the two mics from a piano or acoustic guitar to create width.
Automation is the process of writing changes in levels or effects parameters to tracks. When making a track, you will at some point probably want to program a change in volume, a fade, or even control various settings in effects so that they have a further musical quality, shaping the track and the sound.
For this article I will talk specifically about working in Logic, although you will be able to follow this roughly to achieve the same things in other DAWs.
In Logic’s arrange window, hit ‘A’. This will visually widen each of the tracks, and you will also notice track labels now have options below them. There will be a button that by default will say ‘Volume’, this indicates that any automation written in will effect the tracks volume. If you press this button you will find a drop down menu of any effects that are in use on that channel, and within those, all the different parameters of the effects. This is useful when you want to do certain things such as:
Using a lowpass filter but automating the frequency settings so that eventually there is no lowpass occuring.
Controlling oscillators, envelopes or other settings within VSTs, so that your sound changes
Other options on the drop down menu will allow you to control other things on the channel strip such as panning or any Bus sends, allowing you to have a mix that truly moves.
If you want to achieve a master fade at the end of your track, then open up your mixer tab at the bottom. Scroll and find your master track and click the button that says ‘Off’ just above the panning control. A drop down menu will appear, from this select ‘Read’. Your master track will now appear in your arrange window, and you will now be able to automate the track volume to achieve a fade out.
A common effect used on guitars across all genres of music is applying gain, overdrive and distortion are two gain based effects, although the border between both is somewhat blurred in definition.
Overdrive - drives the signal to the point where adds crunch and dirt and also adds new harmonic characteristics to the sound, sounds a lot more natural and smooth than distortion. Overdrive uses soft clipping and is responsive to the varying level of the input signal and very round usually pushing the mid frequencies of a signal. Overdrive has been around since the earliest tube amplifiers
Distortion - clips the signal a lot harder than overdrive, sounding less natural and driving the sound in a way that is a lot less round. Distortion is heavier and far less responsive to the varying level of the input signal usually with a scooped mid sound. Distortion is commonly found in metal and hardcore music
Another gain based effect is fuzz. Fuzz clips the signal to the extreme where the waveform of the output signal is pretty much a square wave, it is a lot fatter sounding and is a common effect found in a lot of 70s music.
Envelopes are used within samplers and synthesizers to control characteristics of a sound as time goes on, they can be used to make sounds more natural or for special effect.
The features of ADSR Envelopes are:
Attack - This determines how long it takes for the note to reach its peak volume
Decay - This determines how long it takes for the note to go from its peak volume to it’s sustain volume
Sustain - This determines the volume of the note when it is held
Release - This determines how long it takes for the note to go from its sustain volume to 0 after its been released
For example, a sound with a long attack will sound like it is fading in as it will take a long time to reach its peak volume. A sound with a long release will ring out long after the key has been released. This can be used to make sounds in a sampler sound more natural or give your synths a particular character when played.
In this article I’ll be covering modulation effects. These are commonly used on guitars and synthesizers, but can also be used and found on other instruments or elements, although less common. The basic modulation effects are:
Chorus - an effect which duplicates and detunes the incoming dry signal
Flanger - an effect which duplicates and offsets the incoming dry signal by a varying matter of milliseconds, sometimes part of the wet signal is sent back to the input of the effect causing it to feedback and creating a saturated resonant sound
Tremolo - an effect which modulates the volume of the incoming dry signal, sometimes in stereo where it will pan with each modulation, tremolo can be used to completely kill the incoming signal at regular intervals working as a ‘killswitch’
Phaser - an effect which filters and alters the phase of the wet signal, so when combined with the dry signal out of phase frequencies cancel eachother out
Vibrato - an effect which modulates the tuning of the incoming dry signal
These effects are commonly found in pedal units at the feet of many guitarists, but obviously also come as rack units or software plugins or even be notable features on particular amps. How you apply the sound is up to you as an engineer.
Famous examples of these effects
Chorus
Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now - The Smiths
Flanger
A Forest - The Cure
Made of Stone - The Stone Roses
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
Tremolo
Bang Bang - Nancy Sinatra
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Greenday
The Doberman - Kasabian
Phaser
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Precious - The Jam
Solitude is Bliss - Tame Impala
