Make a barrel!
Almost no one of the novice producers escapes the temptation to put on a dozen sample libraries from the current hit parade of Computer Music magazine, and even thoughts like “I’ve gotten 20 refills for Reason for myself and I’ll immediately catch the mega-hit!” .
Of course, there is nothing wrong with using ready-made presets and samples for writing your netlenok - after all, it is for this that they are sold (we all honestly buy them, yes ?;).
But do not forget that you can create beautiful, interesting, and most importantly - absolutely unique sounds on your own, using the simplest means and a little imagination.
Sound design is not only extremely fascinating, but also useful in all respects: remember Benny Benassi, who for many years was an ordinary medium-hand DJ, known only within his native Milan, but as soon as he broke his famous mega-star , he immediately turned into superstar world scale.
Today we will try with you to create a bass drum or just a “barrel”. For all its apparent simplicity, it is often the barrel that determines the character of the sound (and ultimately the commercial success) of the entire track, so the producers pay special attention to it.
Before proceeding to the torsion of the synthesizer knobs, let's recall how the sound is actually formed, which our brain identifies as a kick from the barrel.
The beater strikes the membrane, which is stretched and very quickly returns to its original state, in which it fluctuates for some time. Even without ever hearing this sound in your life, you can figure out that it will consist of a short high-frequency click and a relatively long low-frequency component - the “body” of the barrel.
To create a barrel, we will use Operator - the built-in Ableton Live FM synthesizer. This is a powerful tool, the only drawback of which, in my opinion, is perhaps more (or less?) Than the minimalist interface design.
So, launch Ableton, click on the first slot of the default MIDI track and press Ctrl-Shift-M, this creates a 1-beat MIDI clip. Turn on Draw Mode and draw a note (no matter which one) with a full beat.
We load Operator on the same MIDI track. By default, a modulation algorithm is chosen in Operator, in which the generator A generates the basic tone, B modulates A, C modulates B, and D modulates C - this is the algorithm we will use.
Getting to the formation of the main tone. In the tab of the generator A, activate the option Fixed - now the pitch does not depend on what note we drew in the MIDI clip. Ensure that a sinusoidal waveform (Sine) is selected.
We choose the main frequency of the sound of the barrel - it is usually located in the region of 60 Hz, but it should correspond to the key of our future track. For simplicity, let's agree that the future track will be written in A minor. Knowing the frequency "la" of the first octave (440 Hz), by simple mathematical calculations we find that the basic tone of our barrel is 55 Hz. Operator output volume is raised somewhere up to -3 dB.
')
Start playing the MIDI clip and listen to the result. So far, a little like a barrel? A little patience, dear reader.
Now we need to draw an ADSR envelope. Grabbing the appropriate markers with the mouse, we set approximately the following values:
Initial: -inf dB
Attack: 0, 00 s
Decay: 2.50 s
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 500 ms.
The next step is to modulate the resulting pitch (pitch) sound.
Activate the Pitch Envelope and unscrew the Pitch Envelope Amount to 100%.
Right-click on the Envelope Display and select Set levels of Envelope to min. Then set approximately the following envelope values:
Initial: +48 st
Peak: +20 st
Attack: 0.90 ms
Decay: 400 ms
Sustain: -48 st
Release: 1,5 s
Experiment a bit with Attack and Decay - they have a truly dramatic effect on the character of the sound.
And finally, last but not least, Slope indicators (to see the Slope values, click on any diamond on the envelope).
We are interested in Slope A and Slope D. Personally, I stopped at the values of +36 and +91, respectively, but this already depends on personal preferences and on the style of the future track.
Go to the modulating generator. Turn on generator B and activate the Fixed mode.
Draw an ADSR envelope with approximately the following parameters:
Initial: 0.0 dB
Attack: 10, 70 ms
Decay: 20.3 ms
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 50 ms
Set the Level parameter to approximately -30-35 dB. Then we start the clip and start to pick up the frequency of the modulating oscillator.
How? Exceptionally by ear, guided by their own taste and stylistic preferences. Personally, I stopped at the value of 97.6 Hz
We turn on the C generator, again choose the Fixed mode, but this time we will choose not a sine wave, but a triangular wave - Triangle, rich in high-frequency harmonics.
Draw an ADSR envelope with approximately the following parameters:
Initial: -inf dB
Attack: 0,00 ms
Decay: 50.00 ms
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 50 ms
Set the Level parameter to approximately -15 dB and select the frequency of the modulating oscillator somewhere around 20 Hz.
The changes that C makes at these output levels can be barely distinguishable by untrained hearing, even with good acoustics. But this is the difference about which the French say "God in little things." By the way, this proverb has the second half - “... and the devil is in the extremes,” and this is also worth remembering.
Determining whether you actually hear the changes being made is very simple. Start the playback of the clip, move the cursor to the generator enable button, close your eyes and click the left mouse button while reading to yourself, for example, “My uncle of the most honest rules ...”.
When you get to the duel scene, then ...
Not. I don’t need to go that far in my zeal - it’s enough for me personally to read a couple of lines in order to guarantee to get off the involuntary counting of mouse clicks.
Stop clicking and listen to the sound being played. Click the mouse again and again listen carefully. Now determine if the button for turning on the generator is pressed or unpressed? All, you can open your eyes. Have you guessed it?
Repeat this experience several times, if the percentage of hits is close to 100 - my congratulations. If not, slightly increase the Level parameter and do not be discouraged: hearing is trained, like almost any other function of the body.
Listen to the result. In principle, we have already got quite a good, fit barrel, but still it sounds somewhat dry. We need to give it a little noble "tube" distortion. If you have installed plugins like PSP Mix Saturator or Antares Tube - you can use them, if not - then Dynamic Tube from the standard Ableton Live package is perfect. But before loading the saturator, it will be useful to put a limiter at the end of the chain - this will help us avoid clipping the signal.
We set the parameters of the Dynamic Tube approximately corresponding to the following picture, but, of course, we are guided by our own taste and ears.
Well that's all. It remains only, so to speak, to take profits - to sample the result obtained. In Ableton Live, this can be done in a little less than 9000 ways, the simplest of which is the following: right-click on our MIDI clip and choose Freeze; then hold down the Ctrl key, drag the clip onto the audio track and ... voila!
Here it is, our brand new, absolutely unique, ruddy, piping hot, bochechka!
Enjoy your meal!
Project file
UPD: Barrel
In preparing this article, material from Nick Maxwell was used.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with using ready-made presets and samples for writing your netlenok - after all, it is for this that they are sold (we all honestly buy them, yes ?;).
But do not forget that you can create beautiful, interesting, and most importantly - absolutely unique sounds on your own, using the simplest means and a little imagination.
Sound design is not only extremely fascinating, but also useful in all respects: remember Benny Benassi, who for many years was an ordinary medium-hand DJ, known only within his native Milan, but as soon as he broke his famous mega-star , he immediately turned into superstar world scale.
Today we will try with you to create a bass drum or just a “barrel”. For all its apparent simplicity, it is often the barrel that determines the character of the sound (and ultimately the commercial success) of the entire track, so the producers pay special attention to it.
Before proceeding to the torsion of the synthesizer knobs, let's recall how the sound is actually formed, which our brain identifies as a kick from the barrel.
The beater strikes the membrane, which is stretched and very quickly returns to its original state, in which it fluctuates for some time. Even without ever hearing this sound in your life, you can figure out that it will consist of a short high-frequency click and a relatively long low-frequency component - the “body” of the barrel.
To create a barrel, we will use Operator - the built-in Ableton Live FM synthesizer. This is a powerful tool, the only drawback of which, in my opinion, is perhaps more (or less?) Than the minimalist interface design.
So, launch Ableton, click on the first slot of the default MIDI track and press Ctrl-Shift-M, this creates a 1-beat MIDI clip. Turn on Draw Mode and draw a note (no matter which one) with a full beat.
We load Operator on the same MIDI track. By default, a modulation algorithm is chosen in Operator, in which the generator A generates the basic tone, B modulates A, C modulates B, and D modulates C - this is the algorithm we will use.
Getting to the formation of the main tone. In the tab of the generator A, activate the option Fixed - now the pitch does not depend on what note we drew in the MIDI clip. Ensure that a sinusoidal waveform (Sine) is selected.
We choose the main frequency of the sound of the barrel - it is usually located in the region of 60 Hz, but it should correspond to the key of our future track. For simplicity, let's agree that the future track will be written in A minor. Knowing the frequency "la" of the first octave (440 Hz), by simple mathematical calculations we find that the basic tone of our barrel is 55 Hz. Operator output volume is raised somewhere up to -3 dB.
')
Start playing the MIDI clip and listen to the result. So far, a little like a barrel? A little patience, dear reader.
Now we need to draw an ADSR envelope. Grabbing the appropriate markers with the mouse, we set approximately the following values:
Initial: -inf dB
Attack: 0, 00 s
Decay: 2.50 s
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 500 ms.
The next step is to modulate the resulting pitch (pitch) sound.
Activate the Pitch Envelope and unscrew the Pitch Envelope Amount to 100%.
Right-click on the Envelope Display and select Set levels of Envelope to min. Then set approximately the following envelope values:
Initial: +48 st
Peak: +20 st
Attack: 0.90 ms
Decay: 400 ms
Sustain: -48 st
Release: 1,5 s
Experiment a bit with Attack and Decay - they have a truly dramatic effect on the character of the sound.
And finally, last but not least, Slope indicators (to see the Slope values, click on any diamond on the envelope).
We are interested in Slope A and Slope D. Personally, I stopped at the values of +36 and +91, respectively, but this already depends on personal preferences and on the style of the future track.
Go to the modulating generator. Turn on generator B and activate the Fixed mode.
Draw an ADSR envelope with approximately the following parameters:
Initial: 0.0 dB
Attack: 10, 70 ms
Decay: 20.3 ms
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 50 ms
Set the Level parameter to approximately -30-35 dB. Then we start the clip and start to pick up the frequency of the modulating oscillator.
How? Exceptionally by ear, guided by their own taste and stylistic preferences. Personally, I stopped at the value of 97.6 Hz
We turn on the C generator, again choose the Fixed mode, but this time we will choose not a sine wave, but a triangular wave - Triangle, rich in high-frequency harmonics.
Draw an ADSR envelope with approximately the following parameters:
Initial: -inf dB
Attack: 0,00 ms
Decay: 50.00 ms
Sustain: -inf dB
Release: 50 ms
Set the Level parameter to approximately -15 dB and select the frequency of the modulating oscillator somewhere around 20 Hz.
The changes that C makes at these output levels can be barely distinguishable by untrained hearing, even with good acoustics. But this is the difference about which the French say "God in little things." By the way, this proverb has the second half - “... and the devil is in the extremes,” and this is also worth remembering.
Determining whether you actually hear the changes being made is very simple. Start the playback of the clip, move the cursor to the generator enable button, close your eyes and click the left mouse button while reading to yourself, for example, “My uncle of the most honest rules ...”.
When you get to the duel scene, then ...
Not. I don’t need to go that far in my zeal - it’s enough for me personally to read a couple of lines in order to guarantee to get off the involuntary counting of mouse clicks.
Stop clicking and listen to the sound being played. Click the mouse again and again listen carefully. Now determine if the button for turning on the generator is pressed or unpressed? All, you can open your eyes. Have you guessed it?
Repeat this experience several times, if the percentage of hits is close to 100 - my congratulations. If not, slightly increase the Level parameter and do not be discouraged: hearing is trained, like almost any other function of the body.
Listen to the result. In principle, we have already got quite a good, fit barrel, but still it sounds somewhat dry. We need to give it a little noble "tube" distortion. If you have installed plugins like PSP Mix Saturator or Antares Tube - you can use them, if not - then Dynamic Tube from the standard Ableton Live package is perfect. But before loading the saturator, it will be useful to put a limiter at the end of the chain - this will help us avoid clipping the signal.
We set the parameters of the Dynamic Tube approximately corresponding to the following picture, but, of course, we are guided by our own taste and ears.
Well that's all. It remains only, so to speak, to take profits - to sample the result obtained. In Ableton Live, this can be done in a little less than 9000 ways, the simplest of which is the following: right-click on our MIDI clip and choose Freeze; then hold down the Ctrl key, drag the clip onto the audio track and ... voila!
Here it is, our brand new, absolutely unique, ruddy, piping hot, bochechka!
Enjoy your meal!
Project file
UPD: Barrel
In preparing this article, material from Nick Maxwell was used.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/72229/
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