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• Patrick Ijsselstein

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Tips Tricks Tutorials

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Using Live's Looper to Create Unique Beats Step 1 – How to Use the Looper Looper can be used to create ideas on the fly in a live context or even in a production setting where you wish to try out some ideas. Sometimes, you feel your beats are not that inspiring, or you wish to get a beat idea down quickly which is in your head. These are all scenarios where the Looper can come in real handy. First, I want to look at how you can use your voice, like a beat boxer to easily and quickly create new beats through the use of the Looper. You can build up and layer voiced drum elements until you have a full sounding vocal drum kit. Set up an audio track (create a new track with Command-T) where you will be recording your vocals. Next add the Looper plug-in to the channel. Enable the metronome in Ableton. This will help you keep in time to your project tempo. Start playback and try out some beats ideas. Get comfortable with some Kick, Snare and Hats sounds. When you are ready you can launch the Looper plug-in, and start the looping process. Make sure the following is set on the Looper first:

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Set the Song Control to None. Set the Tempo Control to Follow song tempo. (In a live context you may want to choose None, as tempo can drift in a live situation).

Record enable the Looper. Then press the big + when you wish to start your overdub.

Step 2 – Drag the Ideas to an Audio Track. Looper also has a very handy feature called Drag Me. This allows you at any time to drag an idea from the Looper onto an audio track. Instantly an audio file/loop will be created on the audio track. Once you are happy with your loop creation, simply drag it onto an audio track, and Voila! It is there for you to edit and process as you will at a later stage.

Step 3 – MIDI Map the Parameters A good idea is to map the big + to a button on your controller, or better yet a foot controller. This moves the loop function away from being so mouse-driven to a more performance driven task. Press Command-M to enable the MIDI Map. Select the big + sign on Looper, then select a button on your control. Now it is mapped to this button for easier use for overdubs.

Step 4 – !Other Uses for the Looper You can try the same thing with other instruments, such as using a synth. Whilst recording your loops you can change presets with your overdubs and in the process build up a unique sounding synth loop. I have created a MIDI track. I have loaded up an instance of one of my favorite synths, Sylenth1. It’s a great sounding synth for some ‘analog-style’ sounds. Go through the same process of setting up the Looper on the track. Record a bit with a preset.!Change to a different preset on Sylenth1. Then press the big + to create an overdub, and record a new part with the new preset. Create further overdub layers with different presets. Now you have created a layered synth in the space of a few minutes. You can drag this newly created layered synth onto an audio track. Or better yet, right-click the file and choose Slice To New MIDI Track. A Simpler Intrument is created with the audio file mapped across the MIDI notes. Now you have a great new sounding Sampled Synth.

Try fiddling with the Speed setting. Changing the Speed settings gives you that classic-tape style effect. When you slow down the

time, the pitch is also altered. This could also be used in a live context to create variance in your performances. The Reverse button is also a nice feature. This will flip your audio around and create a different swing on your looped ideas. In a performance, you could build up a loop, quickly reverse it for something different. Then flip it around again to carry on with the performance.

Archiving Projects in Ableton Live This article is a step-by-step guide on what to do with your finished projects in order to get them into a state where they can be archived. There are 4 steps involved: 1. Naming tracks 2. Freezing instruments! 3. Collecting files 4. Backing up

Step 1 - Naming If you’re anything like me, your track naming may not be the best. I like to work quickly and don’t always take the time to rename tracks from their unhelpful defaults. The first job is to go through and rename every track in the project to something useful.

Step 2 - Freezing Freezing a track is the process of turning that track into an audio track. I highly recommend this step for any tracks which use virtual instruments. It’s not out of the realms of possibility that, in 6 months or a year when you reopen your project, some of the virtual instruments within have been updated or no longer work due to a system update. Your perfectly programmed track is now gone. Luckily freezing tracks in Live is a piece of cake: 1. Right-click on a MIDI track and select “Freeze Track”. 2. Wait whilst live renders the audio. 3. Right-click on the track again and select “Flatten”. The last step will complete the transformation from virtual instrument to audio track. All insert effects are also rendered down. If you repeat this process for every MIDI track, you will end up with a project made entirely from audio tracks, which hugely reduces the possibility of compatibility problems with plug-ins further down the road.

The same bass track. At the top it is a MIDI track playing a virtual instrument. In the middle, it has been “frozen”, and at the bottom it has been “flattened” into an audio track.

Step 3 - Collecting files This step will collect all the files used in your project into one place so you can archive the folder safe in the knowledge that everything you need to re-open that project is in one folder: 1. Go to the file menu and select “Collect All and Save”. 2. From the dialog box, select “Yes” to all options. You may not need them all, but it’s the safest way.

Live’s “Collect All and Save” function ensures that all audio and video files referenced by the project are copied into the project folder.

Live will copy any audio and video files it needs into the project folder and save the project so that it references only the files within that folder. Any references to audio files anywhere else on your hard drive are replaced.

Step 4 - Backing up The last step that remains is to backup your project folder. My personal method is simply to copy the project folder from my hard drive to an external backup drive. I have hard drives full of projects from the last 20 years. Some of them will never be opened again, but it’s good to know that they are there and available if the need ever arises.

MTF Technique Vocal tracking

Ableton Live Step-by-Step

Vocal tracking &

compiling in Live 9

Of all the tasks Live can perform, recording and editing vocals takes an approach that may feel less than intuitive. Liam O’Mullane shares his approach...

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bleton Live 9 is much like its predecessors in terms of recording and editing vocals, as very little has changed in this area of music production. Sure, there’s a fantastic new set of processing options such as Audio To Midi that can be used for all sorts of creative, vocal-sourced ideas. And the new Glue compressor is another handy addition – great for achieving that smooth, commercial compression sound that is part of how a vocal should sound to most people’s ears. Last but not least, automation has also improved – it’s now available for clips in Session View, and you can also now work with linear or logarithmic shapes, making the smoothing-out of a vocal part much easier to implement. However, there’s still no classic DAW way to record multiple lanes of takes for immediate access afterwards, or a simple click-and-mute function for auditioning multiple parallel takes in a heavily edited compiling session – all of which is frustrating for anyone who’s used Pro Tools, Cubase or pretty much any other DAW. On the

MTF Navigation Vocal audio essentials

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plus side, though, Live 9 does have basic functionality for compiling audio, and when you’ve explored it, you are actually reminded of the need to strive for better vocal performances in the first place rather than automatically assuming you’ll be editing the hell out of it later... And although there’s plenty of software-based audio trickery that can be performed in Live (much of which outshines all other DAWS), it’s nice to be pushed into a more traditional approach for achieving a good vocal take in a track. However, as this relies more on the

It’s nice to be pushed into a more traditional approach for achieving a good vocal take in a track performance itself, we’ll start by looking at a few Live-based issues you should check out before inviting any performers around.

Tune machine Although Live is quite economical in its use of computer resources, its ability to let you do a lot of creative processing in real time often leads to some very

FADES When editing out unwanted sounds from around your vocal parts, activate Live’s fade by pressing [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Shift]+[F] on an expanded track to smooth out changes in volume.

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CROSSFADING When you’re performing edits in the middle of a continuous vocal part, enable Show Fades and drag one edit over the other. You can then shape the fades as required.

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LEVEL CHANGING The easiest way to create level changes is to highlight the area in question then click and grab the volume automation line while holding down [Shift].

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LOCATORS Locator markers are useful for dividing your song into clear sections. Right/[Ctrl]-click to add them; name them so they make sense at a glance.

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Vocal tracking Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step Recording and editing vocal takes

For recording in Arrangement View, set the loop brace to the desired area you want to focus on. With Loop enabled, hit record and continue capturing takes until you think you have a few good ones to work with.

The audio clip will have an internal loop brace set to the duration of the last take. After enabling Loop, move this brace to the first take. A quick way to do this is to press the up or down arrow keys after it’s highlighted.

Unless your vocal part falls completely in line with Live’s grid you’ll want to disable Snap To Grid from the Options menu. Now split the vocal into as many sections as needed for compiling by clicking on the audio clip and selecting Split from the Edit menu.

Now you can audition each take for these newly split sections by moving the loop brace forwards or backwards. Pressing up and down on the loop brace will move each clip’s content forwards and backwards from one take to another.

If you need to improve on the timing of parts, try moving the start marker within an audio clip. This moves the clip’s content rather than the clip itself, so it is much quicker to work with.

Warp markers are another option for editing timing and are especially useful within a busy section. Double-click around the area of focus so neighbouring content is unaffected, then move the audio between it as required.

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If your computer struggles to perform, look into direct monitoring options on your audio interface plug-in-heavy project work. If you’re already near to maxing out your CPU or hard drive performance limit, then, before you get started on vocals, export audio out of your project and import it in a specific project for vocal recording. There are a few ways to do this – see the Setting Up a Monitor Mix step-by-step for details. If your computer struggles to perform at low latency irrespective of what you do to improve performance, look into any direct monitoring options your audio interface may have. Unless it has onboard DSP processing – like CueMix FX on MOTU’s devices – your artist will have to work with a completely dry foldback of their vocals. In this situation we recommend them having one side of their headphones off, so make sure that you pan their signal accordingly to avoid unnecessary spill. They will then have some room acoustics to hear, which can help them hit their pitch correctly. Another option is to use direct monitoring for a dry vocal and add a Reverb device to the vocal track in Live at 100% wet. This won’t be recorded to the track; it helps the vocalist to perform and the delay from the latency will be perceived as pre-delay, which is a happy compromise.

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Other aspects such as shared processing with other applications should also be minimised; you really don’t want unexpected update requests, pop-up notifications or other erratic behaviour causing you grief in the heat of a session. Tips on performance-optimising for Windows and OSX are best left to a Google search as they are too numerous to be listed here. Before any session starts, you should consider room vibe. This is controlled by how you manage the session in terms of lighting, a good monitor mix and setting a pleasant room temperature. Live can help in the visual realm too, as its usual options of skin templates has been enhanced with control over Brightness, Color Intensity and Color Hue. These are available from the Look Feel tab in Preferences and do impact on the mood in the room, as well as being handy for your own eyes when working in low or zero light conditions.

Get set... When you’re setting up input gain, recording at 24-bit depth or higher (which can be set in Record Warp Launch tab in Preferences) allows you the luxury of leaving a large amount of headroom. Click the decibel reading to the upper left of the fader to reset it; this lets you see the

PRO TIP In Session View you can drag the top of the level meters on Live’s mixer to get a much more detailed picture of your input levels.

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MTF Technique Vocal tracking

highest peak encountered, so it’ll need a few clicks as you’re getting your input levels right. Aim for a good clearance of at least 10/20dB or more; it’s only if you’re working in 16-bit that you may have to get a bit closer to 0dB in order to capture a better dynamic range. On the topic of audio settings, it’s worth seeing if your computer can cope with higher sample rates. As latency is measured in samples, if you run at a higher sampling frequency (rate) per second, samples will pass at a faster rate – ie, 128 samples at 44.1kHz takes around twice the time to happen than when running at 96kHz. It increases the load on your CPU and hard drive, however, so doing this needs to be thoroughly tested before your session. A quick time-saver when preparing to record vocals is arming multiple duplicates of the same vocal track. This minimises the fuss of lining up different takes after you’re done recording (as long as you have the same number of tracks as takes). You then just need to move the loop brace around on each track rather than copying audio when working from one initial vocal track.

Working in Session View is a fluid way to get vocals alongside song ideas as they develop

PRO TIP It’s no surprise that Live offers a more performance-orientated way to compile vocals than conventional sequencers. In Session View you can assign each vocal take to a Key or MIDI note using the relevant Map mode from the Options menu. Set each clip’s Launch Quantization to zero and enable Legato mode. You can now move between your takes at any point and record it all to Arrangement View.

We’re not ignoring recording in Session View here, by the way – indeed, this approach is a very fluid way to get vocals alongside song ideas as they develop. The only potential issue with working in this way is that a large amount of vocal phrases will often run before or after a point when you might want to move from one Scene to another. This results in all sorts of issues while still in Session View in order to have smooth transitions from one Scene to the next. Another option, of course, is to cue Scenes in Session View but remove clip recording from your vocal track(s). This will enable you to continuously record your vocals to Arrangement View irrespective of any Scenes you might choose to launch in Session View. It’s also considerably easier to subsequently edit the vocals so they’ll work as expected in Session View. To remove all clip slots from your vocal track, first highlight them, then right/ [Ctrl]-click (PC/Mac) them and select Remove Stop

MTF Step-by-Step Optimising a vocal take

Whether you have a large number of audio takes in front of you or a clear single take with all the timing and pitch you’re after, you will want to remove certain non-performance-related sounds. To start, highlight and delete the areas between each vocal performance for true silence.

Now there’s no movement, rumble and other unwanted sounds to interfere with a mixdown you’ll need to smooth out the fade in and out points to your edits. Select Show Fades from the Create menu and start to drag their anchor point to smooth out your clip’s start and end points.

The listener’s perceived level of breathing in a vocal can add energy when increased in volume, or sound clinically perfect when set quite low or even removed. Highlight each breath and separate them using Split. Use Clip Gain to control levels.

Pitch can also be edited in Live and there are two main ways to implement this. The first is by using a clip’s pitch control. For vari-speed pitch change (when duration is also affected), disable Warp mode and change the Transpose and Detune amounts. This is the most natural-sounding approach.

Another pitch-control option is to enable one of Live’s Warp modes – like Complex Pro – then adjust Transpose and Detune. This will keep the timing of parts in place, so is best to use for multiple events that create a rhythm.

The second way of editing pitch is to use Envelope automation. This allows you to alter pitch over the course of time without having to perform micro edits on your vocal. Select the E symbol from the lower left of Clip View, then edit the automation line to smooth out unwanted pitch changes.

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Vocal tracking Technique MTF

We strongly recommend the practice of making a note of good takes before you start Button. This track will now record just to Arrangement View as long as you use Live’s Arrangement Record Button to get started.

Go! There are two ways to cue a performance: with a count-in or by utilising a part of the music before the section you’re going to focus on. If you intend to loop for continuous passes over the same section, make sure you set the loop brace in Arrangement View to a position and length that makes sense – even just an extra bar at the start and end is OK; just think of rounded measurements so a vocalist isn’t thinking too much about where they are in the song. If you’d prefer to use a count-in and drop in cold, the duration of the count-in can be set from a dropdown menu on Live’s Metronome icon.

Using a MIDI controller to launch Scenes as you record to Arrangement View offers a lot of flexibility for jamming. It also obviates the need to use your keyboard and mouse when performing on your own.

The only thing left to say is that we strongly recommend the practice of making a note of good takes before you start. We like to jot down the last bar number (shown on Arrangement View’s timeline or under your clips in Session View) after a good take. This enables you to quickly edit and delete audio that doesn’t cut the mustard. It also helps you judge if you have sufficient good material before closing down a session. MTF

MTF Step-by-Step Setting up a monitor mix

Before you start recording, the stability of your setup can be compromised if you’re running a big project with a lot of CPU consumption. Try a low latency setting by Opening Preferences>Audio and reduce the latency buffer size as much as possible.

If your computer can’t deliver at a sample value of 256 of less it is best to work on a vocal-specific version of your project. First you need to export the project as a backing track to use in your vocal project. The simplest method is to use Export from the File menu.

Exporting the Master output may be the quickest approach but it will limit how customised your monitor mix can be later on. We like to group our main instrumental sections like drums, bass and melody and export each group. They can then be imported into a new vocal project.

After your music is imported and you’ve set up your audio track to record, insert a return track (if required) from the Create menu and name it Monitor Mix. Set its output to match the channel(s) your audio interface uses for headphones, then use the Sends to create a mix for your vocalist.

If your soundcard uses only the main stereo output (1+2) for headphones you can work around it by feeding your studio’s monitors from another stereo out. You’ll need to change the Master output in Live as well or you’ll be feeding the vocalist the master mix and the monitor mix.

To use sends on your vocal track you need to make sure it’s set to In or Auto with Arm enabled. Now add whatever processing you need, such as compression or reverb. Processing can be sent back to the singer to help them perform to a professional-sounding mix.

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MT Technique Bass design with Operator

On the disc

Ableton Live Tutorial

Ableton Live project file included on the DVD

Bass design with Operator Operator offers a great deal more than just FM leads and pads. Liam O’Mullane has the low-down.

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ith the topic of this month’s lead feature being synths, we thought we’d show you around Live’s very own hybrid synth, Operator. Although its name comes from the FM synthesis-based term for an oscillator, Operator can function both as an additive and subtractive synth. In fact, given the less than predictable nature of the alternative Analog synth (which is, of course, part of an analogue synth’s charm), we tend to reach for Operator to create any synth-like sounds when we want 100% predictability. On that note, we’ll look at it as a subtractive synth first to keep things simple while investigating its features.

PRO TIP Subtractive and additive synthesis can usually benefit from some modulated filtering from the filter’s own envelope or the LFO (when assigned). For FM work, try using it as an EQ to hold back excessive top end with a low-pass filter.

Got ’rithm The four divided sections to either side of Operator’s central display are called Shells. After clicking the bottom right-hand Shell this Global Shell will reveal 11 colourful algorithm symbols across the top of the central display. Although they look like the puzzle pieces from Tetris, they are in fact routing diagrams flowing from top to bottom. 1

We tend to reach for Operator to create synth-like sounds when we want 100% predictability

All of the algorithms apart from the very last one on the right are either FM-based or a mixture of FM and subtractive synthesis, so we need to click the horizontal shape on the far right. This represents each oscillator running in parallel to each other (ie, not modulating each other like an FM synth). Operator’s four oscillators are the four Shells to the left-hand side. The Coarse parameter sets ratios of the input MIDI note, so if you’re playing a concert-pitch A3 and the first oscillator is set to a ratio of 1/1 you will hear A3 being played back. The technique of layering up a second oscillator an octave above the first can therefore be achieved by turning up oscillator B and setting it to 2/1. As some ratios are odd, like 3/1, there’s also a predefined selection of harmonics on offer. To tune an oscillator to a specific note, use Coarse to find the nearest note below the one you’re after, then use Fine to sweep up to the desired semitone. Although it’s named Fine, it offers a full octave range and isn’t limited to semitone adjustments as it’s calibrated in cents, making it useful for detuning oscillators to thicken a sound. You can view either oscillator or envelope info at the top of the central display; oscillator type is available to the lower right. Let’s go through the layout by making a Reese bass. Select a Saw D waveform for oscillators A and B from the dropdown waveform list (see Image 6, bottom right). Set their Level parameter to 0dB and raise the Fine control for oscillator B up towards 25 cents. As long as you’re playing MIDI notes between C1 and C2 this should already be quite nasty-sounding. To give it more bottom end, raise the level of oscillator C but leave it set to its default sine wave as this pure wave is perfect for reinforcing your existing sound. Need even more weight? Raise the level of oscillator D and set its Ratio to 0.5 for a lower octave of sine power. Now re-balance the sounds using the Level control on each oscillator. 2 The LFO Shell to the upper right is set up by default to control the pitch for all oscillators via its Dest.A section. To give this Reese more of a Hoover-esque ‘rave’ stab tone, set the LFO waveform to SwDown (Saw Down) from the first pop-down menu. Choose Sync from the next menu (LFO Range) and set a Rate of 1 bar. Now raise the Amount while pressing keys higher than C2 to get that familiar descending Hoover bass. 3

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The central display is key to seeing more detail for each Shell when you click on them. This is also where you select MIDI and modulation assignments.

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MAGAZINE

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Bass design with Operator Technique MT

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6 7 Modulation can be used for subtle or dramatic effects – like most audio parameter settings, use the most extreme settings to fine-tune parameters before backing off to a suitable amount.

4 The LFO can be assigned to many other modulation destinations via Dest.B. In most cases you’ll want to disable its default assignment in Dest.B by clicking the A, B, C and D buttons. Although the filter cutoff can be assigned here, setting its Depth to 100% won’t move the cutoff from its minimum to full. A workaround to achieve a full-range cutoff sweep is to assign Dest.B to filter cutoff. With both assignments set to 100% and the LFO set to SwDown, you can achieve that tight and defined rhythmic modulation sound that has been recently made famous by the artist Datsik. 4 Returning to the Hoover-esque sound for a moment, you can get a more authentic upwards and downwards pitch change over time by using the Pitch Envelope in the next Shell down from Filter. With a positive setting between 10–50%, shape the envelope to create a medium attack slope and longer decay time. 5

two oscillators alone – with a little vibrato from the LFO – can create a nice, organ-style bass that gains a harder edge over time. 9 Envelopes can also be looped for creating rhythmic modulation shapes. The bottom right of the oscillator’s central display has a Loop pop-up menu: select Sync, then set Repeat to 1/12 for a triplet feel. 10 As long as Live’s main transport is playing, the envelope will now begin to repeat. Just make sure that the envelope’s shape is short enough so it can be heard changing before it loops around again. Experiment with the Time

Dirt is Good

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VIDEO ON THE DVD

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(Almost) Any Sound Will Do

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Live’s Dirt Devices

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Watch the tutorial movie on the DVD

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You can make a really nasty sound by using EQ, distortion, and then compression. The good thing about compressors that limit is that you can boost them really hard, into overdrive, but the signal is still limited at the end. Live’s Operator synth has a role to play, as I mention elsewhere on these pages. Operator’s cool because you can dial up white noise as a waveform, then use a rack to layer that noise under an instrument or drum track. You can use the chain’s volume control to mix the noise volume level, and adjust Operator’s release time to fit in what’s happening in your main instrument part. Max For Live’s Convolution Reverb effect is a monster noise tool because you can load any type of sample into it, including noises that you’ve just generated in Operator, or, well, all kinds of things – machine sounds, voices, guitar chords – whatever, it all sounds good. I like putting vocal samples in there; you can use words, but long breathy sounds work – put the reverb on a return track and solo it, so that all you can hear is the ghostly noise imprint of whatever tracks are being fed to the return 7 . Sometimes I resample a section of a song into a new audio track, and use that short loop instead of the original separate tracks. This gives your mixing process a different vibe, and gets further away from your original parts – it feels more like working with a loop you’ve cut from another record. The easiest way to do this is with Live’s Resampling audio input option in the In/Out View. Select Resampling, arm the track, and play back the tracks you want to resample from, then record them into a new clip 8 . Now you can treat this sample in new ways – apply different warp modes to it, use Beats warp mode to gate the transients, transpose the clip, reverse it; it’s all good. You can even then load your new resampled clip into Simpler, so you can play it back off a keyboard or arpeggiator, and apply even more processing to it. Very often I convert these samples to mono, which adds to the old-school sampling vibe. Because resampling happens after the returns and master, you could use this method to capture the solo’d reverbs I talked about earlier. A non-standard plug-in that’s effective for lo-fi sounds is Izotope’s free Vinyl. I use this to bind resampled sections together and make them sound different again from the original parts.

Convolution Reverb

If you have Max For Live, which is included in the Live 9 Suite as well as being available separately, you have a Convolution Reverb in the Max Audio Effect section of your Live Library. The Convolution Reverb is great for applying samples of real-world spaces to your reverb palette, but it’s important to realise that you can put any kind of sound in 74

Real Speaker Beats Fake Speaker Plug-ins are okay, but nothing equals the sound of running beats through a real speaker, and mic’ing it up, then routing it to another track in Live. After that, mix the clean and dirty signals for maximum impact. EQs and compressors are your best friends.

there. Noises of all kinds work really well; you can treat them like any other source sound – the reverb’s controls make a lot of difference to how they behave – subtle or more obvious. Get some outside dirt You can reach another level of degradation by sending your sounds outside the computer, and bringing them back in. Anything with a speaker, a line-in, or a microphone, can work. If you’ve got nothing else, you probably have a voice memo type application on your phone. Just play a sound through your studio monitors and record it onto your phone; then sync that recording across and load it into your set. You can do the same thing with those little digital dictation recorders, if your phone doesn’t do it. I’ve also used toy voice recorders – I have a little thing that records a few seconds; I’ll record into that, then hold that up against a microphone to record it back into Live. I like dynamic microphones better for these activities. The reissued Stylophone is one of the best things around for these projects – not only does it have a horrible little speaker, it has a convenient ‘MP3’ input, which you can use to connect your computer, or synth, or guitar, and then mic it up to get the resulting grungy sound back into your computer. If the sound is too thin or just too nasty, double it up with the original, and mix them together. Put Some Like I said before, EQ and Noise In compression are very useful! Small There guitar amps are also good for If you have a track with a resampling; the good thing about software instrument or them, compared to toys like the drums, rack it, then add a chain with Operator. Stylophone, is that you can Create a noise patch experiment more with mic placement using Operator’s White Noise waveform, and mix around the larger speakers – even a it in with your original slight change in position will affect sound, so you get a nasty lurking noise behind the resulting tone. I don’t personally your track. like using guitar amps and effects on synths, because they come out sounding too... guitary... but I do love to use them on drums and vocals. It’s like I said – you don’t want to use these techniques on every sound, but they’re great for adding more texture and glue to your mix!

Ableton Live | Technique

Build a Drum Kit with Sample Manipulation Let’s take this poor little audio sample around the back and beat it around for a while

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Transpose the sample to -12 semitones. Go to the volume envelope controls and set decay to 60ms, sustain to -22dB, and release to 200ms. Set Length to 4%. Raise the Simpler volume to 18dB. Compressors are useful to add to each of our kit sounds – see the body text for suggested settings. Now we have a reasonable kick drum sound, quite soft, with a little bit of a tail on it.

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Start with our example clip called ‘source’. We only want the beginning of this. Turn off loop, and make sure the start marker is at 1.3, the beginning of the waveform, and move the end marker to 3.3. Now right-click in the waveform, in-between those markers, and choose ‘crop sample’. This will discard the unwanted sections of the sample.

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Create an empty drum rack in a new MIDI track. Drag the cropped sample into the rack’s C1 pad. This automatically loads an instance of Simpler, with the sample’s waveform displayed. Let’s make a kick drum. Inside Simpler, turn on the filter and set it to low pass. Set the Freq to 150Hz and the Res to 2.00. Keep testing the sounds by triggering them from your keyboard.

Snare time. Drag the sample onto the D1 pad. Set volume to 8dB, filter to HP12, and Freq 800Hz, Res 2.50. Set Start: 11.9%, Length 10%. Transpose +5. Set Decay 300ms, Sustain -8.6, Release 7.00s, Spread 10%. Rename the chains as you go. Now add two percussion sounds, on E1 and F1. For Perc 1, set filter to LP12, Freq 22.0kHz, Res 0.70...

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Set Start to 28.6%, Length to 10%. Set Decay to 300ms, Sustain -8.0dB, Release 267ms. Transpose +12, and Pan 15R. Volume to 6.00dB. Duplicate this chain to create Perc 2. Change Transpose to +24, Sustain to -5.4dB, Release to 8.00ms, and Pan to 15L. Refer to our body text for more about compression, and our example set for ‘before/after’ versions of the sample.

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If you would like to import a large number of audio samples in Ableton Live and keymap them to individual keys , do these things.

1. Open up an instance of the Sampler instrument 2. Select all the audio files you would like to keymap at one time and drag them to the sampler.You can either do this by dragging samples from Lives session or arrange view or from a directory on your computer.

3. Select Zone and then select every zone by using Command A for Mac or CTRL A for Windows

4. Move the ends of the keymap display so the number of spanned keys is equal to the number of samples.

5. Right click and choose Distribute Ranges Equally

The result should be each sample keymapped to it's own individual note.

mixer basics / make music now
Step by step

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GROUP

MASTER The signal flow of a virtual mixer is practically the same as that of a physical mixing desk, but it’s more customisable

example, are often processed as a whole. Some DAWs can now create a group channel at the click of a mouse, but a more hands-on method is to create a new channel and set its input as the outputs of the tracks you wish to group. The exact method varies from DAW to DAW, so again, break out that manual and read up on it. Grouping tracks becomes even more flexible when routing groups to other groups. Route ten vocal channels as appropriate to two groups named ‘Lead Vocals’ and ‘Backing Vocals’, then send those two groups to a final ‘Vocals’ group.

Sends and returns

Another feature of a mixing desk is the auxiliary

send. This creates a ‘copy’ of your signal either pre- or post-fader, routing as much or as little of it as you wish (controlled by the send knob) to a return channel. This routing can be sent from multiple channels and is commonly used to apply reverb, delay, etc, to a mix. We could, say, send vocals, guitar and snare to Buss 1 in varying amounts, and set Buss 1 as the input to a new return channel. This channel will play the three elements balanced in relation to the send levels we set. If we add a reverb insert effect to the return channel, and set that reverb to 100% wet, the return channel enables us to adjust the reverb signal for the vocals, guitar and snare using a single channel strip.

2. Exploring the difference between pre and post-fader sends

Let’s look at the difference between using sends and returns in pre-fader and post-fader mode – a concept featured in most DAWs. We’ve imported a loop onto a new track in Ableton Live 9 and set up a Reverb on a new Return track. The reverb’s Dry/Wet is set to 100% so that only its effected signal can be heard coming out of the return, as is standard practice for effects on a return channel.

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Let’s now send our loop’s signal in parallel to the return track using the track’s Send amount. By default, Live’s returns are set up in Post Fader mode, shown by the yellow Post button on the master channel. If we pull down our loop’s channel fader, we can hear the reverb drop in level with it. This is because the loop’s signal is sent after the level fader in the signal path.

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We now switch our send mode to Pre-Fader. As we pull down the loop’s Volume fader, this time the volume of our return track remains at a high level, unaffected by the position of our channel’s fader. This is because the send signal is sent to the return before the volume fader, ie, pre-fader.

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MT Technique Composition & Experimentation in Live

Ableton Live Become a Live Power User

Compose & experiment New Series Part 3

What do you do when you run out of ideas and hit that brick wall in composition? Experiment! Liam O’Mullane guides you through Live’s tools for experimental work…

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here are many moments in music composition when you might feel the need for experimenting, or using tools you might not normally turn to. You could be suffering from writer’s block and not know where to take your work next, or perhaps you’re stuck on the first idea and need something to kick start it all off. Or maybe you are nearing the end of your song writing and feel the track still needs something better within it. There’s always the option to step away from your work and think about new ideas, but the only problem with

On the disc Accompanying project file included on the DVD

You should see this as a challenge: how far can you take an idea to create a new one this is that it might not take you into any new territories – it is still you and probably the same thought processes you always use, after all! Experimenting is a much better way and opens up many new possibilities and could result in some of your most unique work yet. This doesn’t mean that your musical integrity is compromised in any way. You’re simply leaving an interpretation of your work in the hands of somewhere else, just as you would if you collaborated with another person. The

FOCUS ON… MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR EFFORTS Live has one of the simplest ways of dealing with the individual contents of a project. At any given time you can search the contents of another project in the Live browser and drag any tracks or individual clips out and into your currently loaded session. This also works in reverse, so if you have a good idea but it may not suit the current project you’re working on, grab the top of the track or a clip respectively, then drag it to a sensible place for easy access in the future. I have a folder called song ideas which I drag every unused idea into. Live also lets you preview these ideas in tempo with your project, meaning you can audition your own ideas in the same context as you would with audio loops.

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main different is that you’re collaborating with your computer, but like working with other people, you still get to approve, dismiss or amend any ideas put on the table. There are many times I’ve completely re-worked an idea to see where it could go and I’ve rarely found the efforts to be worthless. These changes might transform a lifeless idea into something much more upbeat, or create various other instances of an idea I can use for variations or fills at the end of a phrase. So try not to be too precious when going through the techniques covered in this workshop. You should instead see this as a challenge: how far can you take an idea to create a completely new one? The process can be quite inspirational and potentially give you a new key part to your latest work. MT

Composition & Experimentation in Live Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Experimental MIDI

We’ll start with some of the most musical forms of manipulation, for when you don’t want to move too far away from a musical structure you may have already created. Under the MIDI effects tab you will find many tools to play with. We’re starting with the Arpeggiator which is useful for quickly transforming simple ideas into something more animated.

We’ve gone from an incredibly simple melody with a single note per beat to a flourish of notes using two arpeggiators. This arpeggiator began its life from the C Major Walk 16th Grooved preset which we then modified through changing the rate for faster runs and transpose was changed from major to minor to suit the existing melody more.

We then placed a second arpeggiator device and tweaked this to produce more movement to the melody. For further changes to this set-up you can feed the arpeggiator more notes using a chord device. You then just move the Pitch dials for each note you add and tweak until you like the results.

Another way to explore new possibilities is to use a Random device which, as you’d expect, creates random events from your existing MIDI material. Tweak its settings so the Chance amount is high for less repetition, then experiment with other parameters.

To record the results of any experimentation with MIDI effects, add a new MIDI Track, select the output of the track you want to record from the top MIDI From menu, then select Post FX so all your processing is captured. New MIDI clips will be created when you record with all the new content as notes, meaning you can manually edit these parts to perfection.

Don’t think that this type of experimentation is only reserved for melodic work. Try dragging these effects to your drum ideas. Because drum kit layouts rarely use all of the MIDI notes available, you’ll need to bare this in mind when you tweak parameters otherwise the majority of the notes being created could be triggering nothing.

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MT Step-by-Step Creative audio processing

Certain aspects of audio processing are considered mixing aids, like compression, EQ and so on. But other effects can become part of your creative process. For instance an immediate and drastic way to change your ideas into something rhythmic is to add an Auto Pan device.

You can take this a step further by automating its sync value so rhythmic changes become an integral part of your idea. For quick automation either hit the Arrangement Record Button in arrangement view or the Session Record Button for session view. Then tweak away to record your movement.

Auto Pan works best on sounds with a constant output whereas delays can be useful for the opposite situation when you have more sporadic notes. Try adding a Simple Delay device and exploring the Delay Time values, press Link if you don’t want a stereo effect and, of course, explore automation too.

The time aspect of your ideas can also be manipulated through the use of Live’s Beat Repeat device. This can add a mash-up/edit like aspect to your work so it saves the need for you to get heavily into editing for a quick re-work. Explore the library presets, especially Decontruct which will heavily change your current sound.

For musical pitch changes to an audio file over time you need to automate the clip’s Tranpose control. But for sound-design styles of pitch change, try Frequency Shifter as this doesn’t keep the harmonic relationships intact which adds a nastier tone to your sounds.

Thankfully turning any audio processed into a new, rendered clip is much simpler than working with MIDI effects. Just Right [PC] / Ctrl [Mac] + Click the top of a track in session view or its header to the right in arrangement view. Select Freeze Track from the menu, then right click again and select Flatten.

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MT Technique Composition & Experimentation in Live

MT Step-by-Step Max For Live devices

For those who own Live Suite, you can use many of the Max for Live devices for experimental work as well. A good starting point is Mono Sequencer if you don’t have anything created already. It’s a monophonic step sequencer but its Random button is the real winner for unexpected results.

The Random button randomizes whichever of the five tabs are selected at anytime - Pitch, Velocity, Octave, Duration and Repeat. If you’re close to getting something you like, keep Random set to a lower percentage, but if you want complete change with each click, set this to 100%.

Drunk Again is an interesting device as it adds Random’s rapid repeats of notes within the playback of your MIDI clip. It’s best recorded for a while to capture the magic moments. We like this on percussion parts to help them get the glitch treatment.

Instant Haus is another interesting device as it’s designed to drive kick, snare/clap, hi-hat and percussion parts for immediate house music. Run this into an instrument and you might get results similar to Mono Sequencer, but the random section includes groove if you want to explore timing.

When it comes to adjusting parameters over time there are a few tools with Max that allow you to do this, with an added twist of being able to use another sound as the trigger for the sound you’re focussing on. Alongside your melody idea, set up a drum source. Here we’re using a simple drum loop.

Under Audio Effects in the Max for Live folder, grab an Envelope Follower and drag this to the drum track. This will follow the rhythmic amplitude changes of the drum sound. You can then click Map followed by clicking the parameter you wish to control to connect them together.

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MT Technique Audio recording & editing in Live

Ableton Live Become a Live Power User

Audio recording and editing in Live New Series Part 4

Whether you intend to record a multi-mic’ed performance or just the odd found sound, you’ll need to understand how recording and editing works in Live. Liam O’Mullane explains...

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ince part one of this Become a Power User series, we’ve covered programming techniques, getting the most out of Push and composition and experimentation. But although we covered the ins and outs of setting up low-latency performance in Live in part one, it’s not until now that we’ve focused specifically on the recording process itself. Like many aspects of Live, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and when it comes to recording audio, the main option is whether to record in Arrangement or Session View. The first two walkthroughs will guide you through

Accompanying project file included on the DVD

It’s notuntilnowthatwe’ve focusedspecificallyonthe recordingprocessitself both approaches, but like the different approaches to editing described in the third step-by-step, one size does not fit all. So take the techniques discussed onboard, but it’s only through repeated use that you’ll gain a personal context for their use. This time is needed to decide which approach best suits your own preferences for workflow and the tasks you will typically undertake. For instance, pitch-correction (covered in the third walkthrough) can be applied by using many of the excellent Warp modes available. While these will allow you to preserve the timing of your recordings, a side effect can be that the sound quality is compromised as it stretches or condenses your

FOCUS ON… CUE MIXING When recording,you may need to create a custom headphone mix for a performer that differs from the mix you want to listen to as you record.This headphone mix could include lots of reverb for a vocalist,helping them to feel comfortable while performing,and perhaps a loud melodic instrument to help them stay in-tune.A drummer may want everything but themselves in their headphones as their drums are already loud enough.Whatever your requirements,you will most likely need to route the Cue output of Live to the relevant output on your interface to feed the headphones.This needs to be a different output from that used for the Master output of Live,otherwise it will merely copy the main mix.The Cue output will play back any pre-count and the metronome,if required,but it can also send other audio from your project to the performer’s headphones.A Cue option appears above the Cue level control after selecting its separate audio output settings.When enabled,this will turn all solo buttons into a headphone icon.For quick set-up you can simply enable the relevant icon to send those channels to the headphones.For an independent mix of tracks,send only a single return track to the Cue out and instead use the other tracks’ send controls to blend the desired balance of instruments to the headphones via this return track.

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audio to keep it in-time after re-pitching. You can minimise this by using different Warp modes on either a global or edit-by-edit basis as required, but the good, old-fashioned vari-speed approach can also come in handy when you want to completely avoid any time-stretch-based artefacts. But this isn’t artefact-free, either, as the sound will suffer from timing distortions as you alter pitch. So after hearing the differences between the two, you’ll have a better idea of which approach is the most appropriate for the task at hand. Before hitting record, also make sure that you’re set up for the desired bit-depth and sample rate. Bit-depth dictates the available dynamic range in your recordings, with 24-bit being a typical choice. Sample rates represent the highest frequency limit (once halved) of your recordings, and there are all sorts of arguments as to which setting is best. In general, the higher the fidelity you want, the higher the sample rate needs to be. Orchestral recordings tend to be recorded at 88.2kHz or above. Most electronic music can be set to anywhere from 44.1kHz and above. Sample rate can be altered after opening Preferences from the Options/Live (PC/Mac) menu and selecting Audio from the left-hand tab. For bit-depth, click the Record Launch Warp tab. MT

Audio recording & editing in Live Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Recording in Arrangement View

You can choose to record in both Session and Arrangement Views.This can be when Live is already in the middle of playback or you can use a pre-count to count in the start of both recording and playback at the same time.The metronome button has a menu for tailoring the duration of pre-count for the performers’ needs.

To capture a natural performance, it’s best not to focus on smaller sections and loop around them. Instead, use Live in a purely linear mode by making sure that Loop Switch is disabled, then record the performance from start to finish.This will result in a much more natural-sounding recording than working in small sections.

If you want to record multiple takes with this non-looping approach, it’s best to record each new take to a different track. You can then accurately split each part by disabling Snap To Grid from the Options menu and using Split from the Edit menu.The [0] key can be used to disable takes when determining the best ones.

If a performer can’t quite nail a full take or did a good job but small sections might benefit from a re-take, you can use Live’s punch-in/-out function. Click and highlight the area to focus on and select Loop Selection to move the Loop Brace. Press the Punch-In/Out Switch (in yellow) to map to the Loop Braces’ start and end points. Recording will now take place only between these two points.

Another approach is to track multiple recordings by cycling over a small section repeatedly.This is useful if you want to ad-lib and try out multiple different ideas. Start by looping around the area of focus, then record various times until you think there are sufficient decent parts to work with.

The audio clip that you’ve recorded will have an internal Loop Brace that’s the length of your clip.To audition the other takes, simply move the Loop Brace around to change the content of the clip. This avoids the alternative, lengthy approach of moving and extending the clip to gain access to the other takes.

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MT Step-by-Step Recording in Session View

Session View can be useful for Arrangement View-like cycle recording, except that clips are recorded to separate slots, which keeps things easier to deal with visually. If you intend to work in a linear way you can simply hit record in an empty clip slot and record continuously, then drag the file into Arrangement View for editing.

Multiple takes can be recorded separately by creating multiple tracks with their Arm buttons enabled.Then, as long as Start Recording on Scene Launch is enabled from the Preferences menu, you just trigger a scene to start playback and recording of your multiple takes. Alter each clip’s Loop Brace position as in Step 6 of the previous walkthrough so that they represent each take.

Now that you have your recordings, you can either drag them into Arrangement View for editing, or use an exclusive method within Session View.This technique is much more hands-on and less graphically-based. Once you’ve set up your Loop Braces to represent each take, drag the recordings to one track so you can play back only one take at a time.

Highlighting your recordings, open the Launch Box, enable Legato mode and set Quantization to none. Legato allows you to move from playing one clip to another without losing the playback position. This lets you jump between one take and the other like a manual edit. The lack of Quantization means launching of clips will be immediate.

Next, assign computer keys or MIDI notes to each clip using either Key Map mode or MIDI Map mode from the top right of the screen. Now you can launch the takes with your fingers and jam out potential edits of the recordings. We find that this helps you listen to how the edits alter the performance, and you can practice until you think it sounds right.

When you’re ready to commit your compiling to Live, hit the Arrangement Record Button to capture your performance in Arrangement View. From here you can fine-tune and edit between parts. Drag the takes back to Session View if necessary after consolidating it to a new audio file via the Edit menu.

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Audio recording & editing in Live Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Editing techniques

There are several key tools you’ll need to work with when editing a performance. If you’ve already comped from various takes you’ll have multiple clips sequenced one after another. Live will automatically smooth-out the edits you’ve made with a crossfade.To view and edit these, select Show Fades from the Create menu. Fade-ins/-outs can also be controlled in this way.

When trying to improve the timing of smaller edits, rather than trying to move the clips, move their content instead – just grab the Start Marker in the Sample Editor window to move the content and disable Snap To Grid for more accuracy. Re-size the clip to avoid abruptly chopping off the sound’s start or end points.

Disabling Warp mode from the Sample View allows you to re-pitch your audio clips for correction purposes using varispeed.This means that the audio’s duration will expand or contract as you go down or up in pitch respectively. Use the Transpose and Detune amounts to correct your audio’s pitch.

Live’s Warp mode can be used when you want to edit the timing within an audio clip but leave the pitch information intact. Pseudo Warp Markers will appear above the waveform in the Sample Editor.These can be double-clicked and dragged to condense or expand the clip’s content.

Like tuning a non-warped clip,Transpose and Detune can be used with Warp mode enabled as long as it’s set to anything but Re-Pitch mode. Finer tuning through Detune is best for minor corrections, but this can have only a static setting per clip, so Split each area to be corrected and set the Detune on a part-by-part basis.

If you plan on warping a multi-audio recording like drum mics or various instruments from a live performance, first ensure that all audio to be edited is the same length (Consolidate all pieces to a new length from the Edit menu if needed). Highlight the parts, edit one clip’s Warp Markers and the others will follow.The striped pattern across the top of the clip confirms you are in a grouped Warp mode.

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Producing authentic drum & bass Tutorial MT

Powered by

Technique Genre focus

Authentic and original drum & bass Part1 Arguably one of the most difficult electronic genres to master, D&B veteran Liam O’Mullane explains the core techniques for achieving an authentic production sound.

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longside genres such as techno and trance, drum & bass is one of the more mature styles that has constantly pushed the boundaries of electronic music production. And although many people regard dubstep to be the most innovative and perhaps less rules-driven genres of modern times, D&B started its life in much the same way. During the first half of the 90s, a large part of the rave scene was splintering off to become hardcore, and as another offshoot of this development, jungle was born. From jungle through to its evolution into D&B in the early-to-mid90s, the genre has always pushed the boundaries in terms of how technology can be used creatively.

Accompanying project file included on the DVD

Yourkeyfocusshouldbeto experimentuntilyoustumble onsomethingunique In this two-part series we will be looking at the four core elements that apply to all the sub-genres that have emerged over the years – bass design, drum production, decorative sounds/melodies and arrangement dynamics. Unless you are planning to produce yet another for to compete with the existing big comme

you will be aiming to create music that will have the necessary production values to sit happily in your list of respected artists. But in a genre this mature, many styles and ideas have already been done to death, so you will also need to strive for originality in your work. Your key focus should be to experiment until you stumble on something unique, so the bass and drum techniques we’re about to discuss will give you the baseline knowledge needed to successfully take an exploration into sound, then package that into a balanced musical production. It can take an artist years to craft and perfect the sound that ends up defining them, so don’t expect to bang out deep, detailed tracks which conjure up vivid imagery to the listener after just reading this. But do note that although there are many tutorials out there that aim to teach you how to sound like big-name artists – who already own the rights to the sound they’ve carved in the genre – if you stick with the fundamentals we cover here you’ll find it much easier to take experimentation and make it work as a finished track. So set your sequencer’s tempo to between 170–180BPM (depending on your mood!) and let’s get started. MT This tutorial has been endorsed by ACM, The Academy of Contemporary Music, world leaders in music industry education. ACM’s Audio Production School provides Diploma (one-year) and Degree (two-year) courses in Contemporary Music Production, Electronic Music Production, Creative Sound Design and Tour Production & Management. www acm ac uk T: 01483 500800

FOCUS ON… PROGRAMMING DETAILS Although copy and paste are functions that are embedded in modern computing life, using them or a duplicate-part function as a general writing and arranging technique isn’t the key to achieving tracks with a deep sense of detail.However,we’re not saying that you can’t start a general idea as a loop, but you should definitely keep the loop minimally short – 1,2 or 4 bars – before extending the idea.Anything longer will invite you to be lazy when it comes to adding variation and detail to your work at a later stage.Instead,try to expand an idea by writing new parts one after another.You can copy smaller sections from the content of previous parts,just try to avoid global copying of all parts and their content.A better approach is to pinch and borrow little bits here and there,then vary them as you progress.

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Producing authentic drum & bass Technique MT

MT Step-by-Step Drum work

The only requirement for the main drum sounds in D&B is that they need enough presence to sound strong enough on their own before you add decorative sounds. For the kick and snare we’re starting with two samples chosen for their weight and good transient snap. We’ve then programmed four bars with variation.

From here we’re going to explore layering possibilities to lend an individual tone to our drums. Due to the faster tempo in D&B than other genres, it’s important to keep the lower-frequency elements quite short in duration. Keep a keen ear on this by using fades or ADSR amplitude control.These can be used to carefully tighten each new sound as you add it.

When adding new drum layers, utilise high-pass, band-pass or an EQ filter to remove any unnecessary frequencies that may clash with other drum sounds and mix elements as the song progresses. We’ve achieved a woody-sounding kick and piccolo snare tone we’re happy with by creating a few layers, but don’t be opposed to changing sounds as your song and mix demand.

Anything from hi-hats to sliced breakbeats can be used to add more rhythmic information to your core sounds. A filtered break slice is often used as a textural layer to the kick and snare, but we’ve used it between the main hits in a sparing fashion and filtered them so they don’t sound too dominating. Also try high-pass-filtering long sounds to give a sense of space to your drum sound as a whole.

As you may have guessed, layering is going to play a pretty large part here too. We’ve duplicated our lead track, which gives us six saw waves to play with. It’s sounding really nice and buzzy now, so we dial in a little reverb to give it even more space and character. We don’t actually have our lead playing all the time – rather, it kicks in every second bar or so.

Although the commercial side of D&B became very loud over the last decade, modern underground releases allow more room for a mix to breathe. So don’t overdo processing like limiting, hard-clipping or any other effects designed to max-out a signal.Try achieving more power by sidechaining sounds other than your kick and snare – having these drop by just 2–4dB is enough for a solid yet dynamic sound.

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MT Technique Producing authentic drum & bass

MT Step-by-Step Bass design and re-sampling

Whether you plan to keep an instrument live throughout the production process or intend to re-sample it (which tends to be the case in D&B), both approaches start with a sound source of discernible pitch or more noise-like and pitchless character.The latter can be achieved with drastic pitch variations or heavy use of FM, ring-modulation or any other heavily discordant processing.

There’s no set rules for the type of waveforms you can select here, but you’ll generally find that a bigger sound is achieved by using square waves within your mix of synth layers. Saw waves offer a lot of edge that cuts across a mix; highly pitched sine or triangle waves are useful for achieving softer tones. Make sure that you also explore the best octave for each layer as you stack synths or oscillators.

The next step is to add movement to your sound.The best starting point is to play with any controls as you listen for something interesting. Use the more coarse-sounding changes to develop a unique character. At this stage, try to assign an envelope or LFO to these parameters so they can be triggered as you play.

If you plan on re-sampling your sound, this is the point at which you can pile on processing effects without worrying about getting in a tangle with automation later on. Explore parameter changes with effects as you did in the last step and record them as automation. Common effect choices are phaser, notch-filtering and stereo width/ widening tools. But here, anything goes.

Re-sampling is the most practical way to deal with these large effects chains and automation recordings. Before sampling, explore the best note to record as some will have a certain sonic sweetness over others. After recording them into your DAW, drag the audio into a sampler and explore the possibilities with this (and any other re-sampled bass sounds you’ve created).

A designated sub-layer is essential for the low-end weight needed in D&B.These are often stacked sine waves with octave- or harmonic-based intervals. Alternatively, triangle waves can be quite useful when low-pass-filtered for a thicker sound. Keep the sub as a separate instrument rather than a layer with other sounds so it can either play in unison or be varied from the other parts.

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Orbital Chime Deconstruction MT

MT Step-by-Step Key elements

Looking at the elements of the original, we’re back in classicgear-land. Orbital famously triggered hardware such as the Roland TB-303 and TR-909 live via Alesis MMT8 sequencers.These sequences were then triggered around particular bar lengths, and this approach can quite easily be replicated in software like…

… Ableton Live. Here, the various tracks of the song are broken down from left to right (drums, chords, two bass lines) while the aforementioned sequences sit as clips within each one. The track’s bass line follows the chord progression throughout, so we need to work out what that is, but first, let’s get the key of the tune.

To find this out it’s a good idea to load in an mp3 of the original and simply play along, but we’ve done the hard work and can reveal that it is E flat major (notes E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C, D, E flat). Now to look at the song’s structure in a little more depth...

The opening sequence is a set of chordal stabs.The easiest way to re-create this is to sample the sequence and loop it as it plays solo at the start. But that’s cheating, so you could sample an individual stab and trigger it in Live’s sampler as shown here (the pattern repeats over a couple of bars). If you want to re-create the original chords, go for a string-like sound with a short attack based around E flat major.

The main bass sound was created with a classic Yamaha FM module, the TX81Z, using a preset called the LatelyBass. If you want to re-create this it sounds rather like a plucked bass sound with rich and mellow tones – a sound that underpinned many a dance track back in the day.

The sound is available in software instruments like NI’s FM8 (shown and from the FM7 bank) or a freeware synth for Windows called OXE FM (from www.oxesoft.com). Any bass sound with a plucked attack and middling decay will do. Over the first part of the track the only notes the bass plays are E flat and B flat, which follow the chord progression over two changes.

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Orbital Chime Deconstruction MT

MT Step-by-Step Key elements... cont’d

The second section of the song follows a longer progression of the chords, however.These six chords are: G, B flat, E flat; D, F, B flat; C, E flat, A flat; A, C, F; B, D, G; and G, B flat, E flat. Rhythmically, think of each of the six chords in the above order as numbered 1–6 and play and record them as 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6.

As before, the TX bass line follows these chords as the following sequence of single notes: E flat, B flat, A flat, F, G, E flat (one octave down).You’ll notice this is the top note of each chord above. Rhythmically, again think of each bass note numbered 1–6 and play and record them again as the 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6 combination.

That’s the main chord sequence and bass line sorted.There’s also a squelchy 303 bass in there – as there was on just about every track back then.There are many free synths that will give you this sound and you’ll probably find it in the arsenal of synths that come with your DAW, but here we’ve used the Analog synth in Live.

This squelchy line initially follows the first bass line over E flat and B flat, but instead of falling just goes up to note C.To be honest, this is where you can freestyle a little, and as you record, feel free to record automating the frequency on whatever synth you are using for extra acid squelchiness.

More on the sounds.The beats in a lot of classic dance (and indeed modern dance!) come via TR-808 and 909 drum samples, and we’d be very surprised if you don’t have these kicking (sorry) around in your sample library or within a drum instrument.

Finally, the main chordal sound comes by way of an analogue lead and Live’s Chord device, which fattens it out into chords following the E flat major. And that’s it.The great thing about using Live is that you can now trigger these sequences in pretty much the same way as Orbital did originally – the perfect marriage of old and new.

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MAGAZINE December 2013

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