Dubspot Blog » Sound Design

Sound Design Tutorial: Create Dutch-Style Synth Leads w/ Absynth (Native Instruments)

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:46:52 +0000

In this tutorial, Dubspot sound design instructor and course designer Evan Sutton (aka Astrolith) shows how to create Dutch-style synth sounds with Native Instruments Absynth. Dutch-style synth leads are useful for many different types of music aside from dutch house.

The characteristics of a Dutch-style synth sound are useful for many different types of music aside from dutch house. These days, we’re hearing these sounds in many far reaching styles of electronic music. There are a handful of specific techniques that will help you get your foot in the door with a sound like this. The fun part is building new and unique textures around these parameters. The key here is to create a rubbery, smooth sound using lots of glide and a long release on the amplitude envelope. Then, to maintain the groove and accentuate the rhythm, we’ll explore different ways to add emphasis to each note played. – Evan Sutton

Evan Sutton a.k.a. Astrolith is an electronic music producer, sound designer, and audio engineer, as well as teaching sound design and electronic music production at Dubspot. He also helped develop Dubspot’s Sound Design program. You can hear Evan’s music and find out more about him at astrolith.net and soundcloud.com/astrolith.

Become fluent in the language of sound design with this comprehensive program. This six-level Sound Design program uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, this comprehensive series of courses covers most common synthesis methods available for music production in the DAW of your choice.

Discovering the right sound is like finding a needle in the digital haystack. Learn the fundamentals to make this easier, and gain the depth of knowledge to make a good sound better. Factory content is great, but everyone has it – your mix needs something special.

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Sound Design classes just started, sign up today!

NYC COURSES
Evening Classes: April 30, 2013; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:15pm-9pm
Afternoon Classes: May 1, 2013; Wednesdays and Fridays, 3:15pm-6pm

ONLINE COURSES in session with seats still available. Register today!

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Sound Design Tutorial: How To Create A Delay Effect w/ Reaktor – Native Instruments

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:54:45 +0000

In this video tutorial focusing on programming in Native Instruments’ Reaktor, Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton shows you how to create a delay effect in Reaktor, creating a standalone effect that you can use in Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or any other platform.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to forget that many of the tools we’re using are based on audio concepts from the physical world. In this tutorial, we’ll build on some of my previous Reaktor tutorials and explore one of the most misunderstood and under-used signal routings known to man: feedback. We’ll use this to create a single-tap delay effect in Reaktor that works great on its own, or as a starting point for many different types of DSP processors. – Evan Sutton

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm
May 1, 2013 in NYC – Wednesdays, Fridays, 3:15-6pm
The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE
The week of July 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Sound Design Tutorial: Using Native Instruments Massive to Create Sub-Heavy Kick Drums

admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:22:35 +0000

In this tutorial, Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton discuss basic kick drum synthesis using Native Instruments’ Massive. This can be a useful production technique for everything from techno to trap. Also, this is a universal technique that can be applied using many other synthesizers.

In this tutorial, we’ll discuss basic kick drum synthesis in Massive. Remember that these techniques are not entirely unique to Massive, and can be used in infinite capacities in many other synthesizers.

To get started, I always find it helpful to sequence the kick part I’m making the sound for. This way, we’re tailoring the sound specifically to its musical part. Many of the parameters, such as envelope times, can be set more precisely and carry the song better. Remember that the pitch you play for the sequence should be the pitch you envision for the tail of the drum. Next, get the amplitude envelope in order. Let your taste, as well as the music dictate how long it takes for the sound to decay, and whether or not you’d like it to sustain. After the drum is fitting rhythmically, we can go buck wild with adding the punchy transient that will help the sound cut through a mix. – Evan Sutton

Related Dubspot Courses:

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm
May 1, 2013 in NYC – Wednesdays, Fridays, 3:15-6pm
The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE
The week of July 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Creative Strategies for Music Production w/ Shadetek: Music as a Team Sport

admin — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:49:33 +0000

In his latest article on creative strategies and motivation, Dubspot Logic instructor and course designer Matt Shadetek suggests collaboration with others as one of the keys to growth as an artist.

Team Sports Have Gone Solo

A lot has changed in the way we make music. In the past, music was usually created as a group activity. People would sing together as they worked, relax at night performing for each other, and come together to celebrate community occasions with music. In fact, ethnomusicologists believe that music is one of the most important factors that helped early human communities stay together and maintain group harmony (no pun intended).

With the advent of recording technology and more recently computers, we now have the opportunity to turn every stage of the musical process into a solo activity. People can sit alone with their headphones and compose, record, arrange, mix, master, and distribute music all from the same computer and chair in their house. In many ways this is a huge gain. We live in an era of unprecedented creative freedom where we no longer need to seek approval from gatekeepers for our work to reach an audience.

On the other hand, it has turned music making into a very different kind of process which has perhaps lost some of its enjoyment.

As someone who has produced a great deal alone as well as in groups, I notice that I really have a lot more fun when working with other people. I feel you can often hear this in the product. There is clearly still a time for working alone, but sometimes sitting in your room and not interfacing with other people can sometimes get you into a creative rut.

Collaboration on The Empire Never Ended LP

I recently finished recording my latest album, The Empire Never Ended. On this release I collaborated with a number of different vocalists including Riff Raff, Troy Ave, Chan Dizzy, and my good friend and long-time collaborator Jahdan Blakkamoore. I also collaborated with my label partner DJ /Rupture on one of the beats. While this type of collaboration was something I’ve done many times before, this was the first record that I didn’t completely engineer myself.

To mix the record I enlisted my friend and fellow Dubspot instructor Evan Sutton a.k.a. Astrolith. I chose to do this because I had reached a point with where I just didn’t feel I could bring fresh ears to the tracks. I had heard the songs so many times that I was worried I might get complacent and settle for something less than what I really wanted to achieve.

Bringing in a collaborator with fresh energy at this stage of the process was an incredible experience. To Evan all the material was brand-new so he had plenty of ideas about how to polish and improve it. We went through each track instrument by instrument, discussed what was working, and made careful decisions about each sound. I sat in the sessions and gave input but also gave him freedom to make tweaks and improvements where he heard opportunities to do so. I’m incredibly proud of the result and am very happy to have discovered a new phase of collaboration 14 years into my career of making music.

Collaboration Can Expand Your Own Capabilities

Whether or not you have an established process of working on your own, I encourage you to explore involving other people in your music making. There are many upsides to collaborating. First of all, if you enjoy their company it’s a lot more fun to sit in a room together than being alone all the time. Another of the major benefits I find in collaboration is speed. Having someone who’s opinion you respect to say “stop fooling with that, it’s good” is very valuable to help avoid all the second-guessing we often get into on our own. Having two minds contributing and checking each other’s work is a great way to avoid artistic dead ends where we get stuck, frustrated and run out of steam.

Collaboration is also a wonderful opportunity to learn and expand your skills. Although I’ve been working with the same software (Logic Pro) for more than ten years, almost every time I work with someone else who uses it I pick up little ideas from watching them do their thing. Sometimes it’s something very simple like a keyboard shortcut I’ve overlooked, and sometimes it’s a major technique. It’s easy to keep returning to the same techniques and slow down in your development when you work alone. Watching someone else work can be a great source of input into your process and an opportunity to pick up new ideas.

The most profound addition to your creative process is another mind and set of ears. I find that if I work on music with someone, regardless of their level of skill or approach, the end product is always very different than if I am working alone–including working with non-technical people who never touch a piece of equipment or play a single note. One of my great personal goals is to continuously develop my skills and process as a musician. Once you get to a certain level of knowledge, it can be difficult to find opportunities to learn and develop further. Collaborating with other talented people is one of the best methods that I’ve found.

- Matt Shadetek

Matt Shadetek is a DJ, producer and teacher based in Brooklyn, New York. He runs the Dutty Artz label with DJ/Rupture and will be releasing his second solo album The Empire Never Ended on March 26th, 2013. Hear his music at mattshadetek.com

For further exploration of Logic check out Dubspot’s six-level Logic Pro Producer program, designed by Matt Shadetek:

Master Logic with our complete program of courses culminating in a four-track EP ready for release. In addition to achieving a complete overview of the composition process in Logic you’ll also earn the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Logic Pro. After completing this program, you will leave with a new EP, a remix entered in an active remix contest, and a scored commercial to widen your scope.

What’s Included

Logic Pro Level 1: Shake Hands with Logic
Logic Pro Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Logic Pro Level 3: Mixing Essentials
Logic Pro Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Logic Pro Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Logic Pro Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

Music Production with Logic Pro classes are starting April 21st at Dubspot Online – Sign up today!

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Sound Design Tutorial: Create Custom Scripts in Native Instruments’ Kontakt

admin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:09:48 +0000

In this video tutorial, Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton shows you how to add, modify and customize existing instruments in Native Instruments’ Kontakt script editor.

Scripts are used to customize the way an instrument plays. In the factory library, the data involving the fancy Performance View is all created using Scripts. Many of the Scripts in the factory instruments let us customize how the instrument interprets incoming MIDI data. This is the area we’ll focus on in this tutorial.

To program scripts from scratch would take quite a bit of commitment and practice. Lucky for us, there are built in factory scripts that we can load up and customize. Many users will notice that the Scripts we talk about in this tutorial are not unlike Ableton Live’s beloved MIDI effects. What’s more is that just like Live’s MIDI effects, Kontakt Scripts work together and can communicate with one another, opening up a vast modular world.

Other scripts let us customize a sampler instrument and add features much like we’d expect to see on a synthesizer. No matter what the role of the Scripts, they can be used to take a solid instrument and make it perform in new and different ways. – Evan Sutton

Evan Sutton a.k.a. Astrolith is an electronic music producer, sound designer, and audio engineer living in New York. Evan teaches sound design and music production at Dubspot NYC and helped develop the school’s Sound Design program. You can hear Evan’s music and find out more about him at astrolith.net and soundcloud.com/astrolith.

Related Dubspot Courses:

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:15-6pm
April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm
The week of January 20, 2013 ONLINE
The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

http://blog.dubspot.com/files/2013/03/Evan_Sutton_Kontakt_Blog_7.jpg

Introducing Komplete 9! (Battery 4, Monark) Native Instruments’ New Synths, Instruments, Effects +

admin — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:31:10 +0000

Native Instruments has announced a new update of their comprehensive Komplete 9 collection, featuring some exciting new additions to their established lineup including Monark, a new virtual analog synth that brings classic Minimoog sounds to your software setup, as well as the long-awaited update to their Battery drum sampler…

Komplete is a behemoth of a software package that includes a wealth of different instruments and tools, offering just about anything you could need to find the right sound for a project or create your own sounds fast. It continues to be the go-to collection of software instruments and sounds for producers in all styles of music, from film composers to EDM producers to hip hop beatmakers, so let’s look at what NI have added to the mix this time around.

Recently-released sample libraries such as Session Strings, Evolve (cinematic electronics) and Damage (an office favorite here at Dubspot blog with its piledriver impacts, drum hits and loops) have been added to the mix, as well as the long-awaited update of industry-standard drum sampler Battery 4. There is also a new Reaktor-based synthesizer called Monark, a fresh take on classic analog monosynths of the 1970s, and the Solid Mix Series of studio effects has received a significant update as well, adding functions such as sidechaining and parallel compression.

Monark: One Synth To Rule Them All?

One of the most outstanding new additions to the Komplete line is the new Monark synthesizer. Meant to accurately emulate an unnamed classic 1970s synthesizer while adding some modern touches, Monark is aimed squarely at the growing market for classic analog synth sounds and it is a strong entrant to the field.

Featuring a stripped-down old school design with three oscillators, a thick-sounding filter and two envelopes, Monark is a classic single voice synth with an extremely thick and robust sound that is really fun to work with because of its simple easy-to-understand design. Careful work by NI’s programmers has brought stunning realism to the instrument, with gritty sonic results that may be difficult to tell from its 70s predecessors.

The Minimoog Model D seems to be the most obvious reference for Monark, and its preset banks include many sounds modelled after classic analog synth sounds from recordings by Kraftwerk, New Order, Daft Punk and others. The preset list is also full of fat basses and biting leads that should prove popular with the current generation of EDM producers as well as fans of classic sounds. The lead sound of “Da Funk” by Daft Punk is only one example of a Minimoog-type sound in dance music:

Daft Punk – “Da Funk”

Battery 4

Another major addition to the Komplete 9 package is a new version of drum sampler Battery, bringing it up to its fourth iteration since it was first launched in 2001. Battery hasn’t been updated for more than five years and this new upgrade adds some of the innovations in interface design and workflow that we’ve seen added to Maschine, Kontakt, and the other NI apps in that time.

Battery’s new streamlined interface reflects its futuristic potential, featuring a more elegant and simplified design as well as a redesigned factory library with 79 new kits aimed specifically at electronic dance music production. There is less emphasis on acoustic drum sounds here than in earlier releases of Battery, probably because NI has devoted so much effort to recreating realistic drumkit sounds in Kontakt 5 in the last few years instead. (Check out the Abbey Road Drummer or Studio Drummer Kontakt libraries included in Komplete 9 if you’re looking for realistic acoustic drums.)

Battery 4 has been redesigned from the ground up for better usability and improved workflow. This has been a hallmark of NI releases in recent years and something of a trend among other software makers as well; users have become overwhelmed with new features and are more interested in creative tools that help them actually make music rather than getting lost in a complex interface full of unneeded options. Features like Battery 4’s reworked browser will make it much easier for users to find the sounds they’re looking for instead of wasting time digging through files and folders.

Battery 4 also incorporates a number of newly-added NI effects earlier seen in Guitar Rig (like the excellent Transient Master) to mod and tweak your drum sounds.

Other Synths and Samplers

Of course, no Komplete upgrade would be complete, without the inclusion of many of Native Instruments’ new sample libraries and synthesizers that have come out since Komplete 8 was released. Other new additions this time around that caught our eye include The Giant, a sample library capturing the sound of the world’s largest upright piano (three meters tall!) and Skanner XT, an ingenious sample-based synthesizer built in Reaktor by Native Instruments’ founder Stephan Schmitt.

Komplete 9 vs. Komplete 9 Ultimate

If you’re thinking about getting Komplete, its important to understand that there are two different packages in the Komplete product line, the basic Komplete 9 package and the Ultimate version. Komplete 9 includes 33 individual NI software instruments and effects, including 12,000 sounds and 120 GB of sample libraries. Komplete 9 Ultimate, its big brother, contains 65 instruments and effects and over 16,000 sounds, with over 370 GB of sample material. Both versions include new additions Monark, Battery 4, The Giant and the Solid Mix Series of plug-in effects in addition to Native’s core suite of software tools: Kontakt 5, Reaktor 5, Massive, FM8 and more. Ultimate also adds some of the best of NI’s recent products like Razor, Damage, the Premium Tube Series and the Classic Reverb Series.

Should I Get It?

Whether you are looking to make fat trap beats or score films, you write for orchestra and choir or you need raw dubstep basses, Komplete offers everything you need to achieve your production goals. With a wide selection of sounds ranging from the acoustic musical instruments intricately sampled in the Kontakt 5 library to the cutting-edge synthesized sounds of synths like Razor and Prism, Komplete has it all.

However, the big question with a package like Komplete is: with all the competing bundles on the market and the wealth of free and cheap plug-ins and effects available online, does it still make sense to pay hundreds of dollars for a collection of instruments and sounds like this? To some extent the answer to this question depends on the kind of music you want to make (as well as your budget!), but it has to be said that both Komplete versions continue to be a great value for money considering the overwhelming amount of quality sounds and instruments that are included. In many areas (such as Kontakt for general sampling or Massive for dubstep bass), Native Instruments’ offerings set the standard that the competition has to measure up to.

For electronic music producers, the NI synthesizer suite is virtually a must-have, with popular synths like Massive and Reaktor being used on countless contemporary dance, pop and hip hop tracks. Especially if you already own an earlier version of Komplete, upgrading to the new version is a no-brainer (the full version of K9 lists for $559 but upgrading is only $149).

Note: we will have more in-depth coverage of Monark and Battery 4 coming soon when the products are actually released so stay tuned! The official release date for Komplete 9 is March 27th.

Related Dubspot Courses:

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:15-6pm
April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm
The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Production Techniques
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming and Instrument Building

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Sound Design Tutorial: Using Ableton Live’s Effects Racks w/ Native Instruments Guitar Rig

admin — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:21:40 +0000

In this video tutorial, Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton shows you how to build intuitive and fun effects in Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig and control them using Ableton Live’s Effects Racks.

To get started, we ‘ll build a great sounding combo effect in Guitar Rig using a Container. The first effect will be a bit crusher with a high-pass filter. The Digital Lo-Fi effect in Guitar Rig is taken straight from the Traktor effects arsenal. There are also some great-sounding filters in Guitar Rig, including the Pro-Filter, based on the low-pass filters on the DSI Prophet 5. Using a Container, we can add a controller that will move the cutoff frequency of the filter and add distortion at the same time.

Once the effect has been set up, we can add it to an Effects Rack in Live for an even finer degree of control. Using the unique routings available in Ableton, we can build a controller that is not only easy to automate, but will actually turn the effect off when the controller value is at zero.

This approach is a great starting point for building a wide variety of ‘intelligent’ performance systems. – Evan Sutton

Related Dubspot Courses:

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:15-6pm
April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm
The week of January 20, 2013 ONLINE
The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Trap Water Music: How to Synthesize a Droplet Sound w/ Native Instruments’ Massive

Computo — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:52:55 +0000

The synth “water droplet” sound has been popular recently in trap and hip hop. This droplet or bubble-like sound is fairly easy to create, and also provides a great opportunity to examine the attack and decay functions of an envelope in music synthesis.

In this tutorial we will be using Native Instruments’ Massive to demonstrate how to make a synth “water droplet” sound from scratch; however the techniques conveyed here are generally applicable to many other software and hardware synths.

To start with, let’s listen to a few recent tracks that have used this sound so you can hear what we’re talking about.

Listen For The Drop(let)

One track that prominently features the water droplet sound throughout is Eprom’s “Regis Chillbin,” a dancefloor hit last summer as we saw the re-emergence of trap as an EDM subgenre:

Eprom – Regis Chillbin

Machinedrum then picked up this groove and created a strange hip hop mutation of the original (featuring re-pitched cat meows and other creative uses of sampling technology) in a remix that was subsequently re-used as the basis for the track “Aquababe” by rapper and seapunk ambassador Azealia Banks on her Fantasea mixtape. The water droplets are not as prominent this time around but listen for example at around 0:36:

Azealia Banks – Aquababe (Regis Chillbin Remix by Machinedrum)

Creating Your Own Droplets

Now let’s look at how to create this sound in Massive.

First start with a new (empty) sound in Massive. Turn on OSC 1 only to start with; turn off all other oscillators, filters, noise and feedback. Select the Sin/Squ (sine wave/square wave) wavetable in the drop-down menu to the right of the OSC 1 label. Set the Wt-position (wavetable position) control all the way to the left, to get a pure sine wave tone.

Now turn on Filter 1, and set it as Lowpass 2. Set its cutoff and resonance each to about one o’clock. Click on 1 Env in Massive’s modulation section (beneath the filters). Set the attack knob to zero, and its level knob to 100%. Set the decay at around 1030ms, and its level to zero. Set the morph and release levels to zero as well, we only need to manipulate attack and decay to create this sound.

Now we will assign this single envelope to control a few key functions of the oscillator and filter we’ve enabled.

To assign the modulators (the envelopes and LFOs) in Massive, click on what Native Instruments calls the “modulation handle,” the cross-shaped icon to the right of each modulator name, and while holding down the mouse button, drag the handle to one of the many “modulation slots” beneath many of the knobs, sliders and other synth parameters on the Massive interface; these modulation slots appear as small empty boxes. For this example, click and drag on the handle for the envelope 1 Env, and drop it in the first modulation slot directly beneath the Pitch parameter in OSC 1. Repeat this step twice more, dragging the handle to the left-hand modulation slot under OSC 1’s Amp parameter as well as the left-hand modulation slot under the Cutoff parameter of Filter 1.

At this point, the tone should be a slightly filtered sine wave. Now, by manipulating the values of the modulators we have assigned, we can morph this sine wave into the water drop sound. The OSC 1 Pitch modulation slot should currently show a blue 1, with a number value to its right which should currently read 0.00. Now click this number and drag it up to around 27-28. This will give the sound a sudden and sharp pitch up and down; however since the attack on 1 Env is set to 0, the sound will only pitch down, following the decay settings.

Now turn the OSC 1 Amp knob down to zero, and click the assigned modulation slot (the blue 1 in the box beneath the Amp knob) and drag it all the way upwards, until the blue indicator line around the knob reaches 100%. This assigns the envelope to control the output volume of the sine wave. Finally, click and drag the modulation slot beneath Filter 1’s Cutoff downward, until the blue indicator line reaches zero. This will cause the filter cutoff to follow the envelope, cutting all frequencies from high to low. Now that the decay settings for the envelope 1 Env are controlling all three of these settings, the sound should take on the expected water droplet effect.

With just a bit of exploration and tweaking, the attack and decay functions of the envelope can be used to create a variety of other sounds based on this same simple configuration. Double-clicking on the modulation slot will remove the assigned envelope control. Double-click the Filter 1 cutoff modulation slot, and the blue indicator line should disappear. Do the same to the OSC 1 Amp, then turn the knob to 100%.

Now by making miniscule changes in the existing settings, this patch can take on new forms. For example, try turning the attack and decay knobs on the envelope and notice how each of these affects the tone.

By turning up the attack to about 8 or 9 o’clock and slowly turning the decay knob up further, a laser-like tone starts to take shape.

Or try dropping the attack back down to zero and set the decay for 12-1 o’clock, revealing a classic “disco bell” sound found in classic disco hits like Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell.”

Or, pitch this disco bell sound down into the bass range and it becomes a fat sine wave bass drop.

By reversing certain settings or assignments, or making small tweaks on other parameters, this simple single oscillator/filter/envelope patch can be extremely useful and diverse.

What other sounds can be derived from this simple envelope setup? Post your variations with your own tweaks in the comments below…

Here’s are a couple more examples of this sound in use, in a track from Pimp C and a live set from LA’s Gaslamp Killer in the Boiler Room:

Pimp C – Pourin’ Up

Gaslamp Killer live in the Boiler Room–check out the section right at 17m to hear a good example of water droplets in action!

Dubspot contributor Computo is a half-human/half-machine electronic music producer and DJ focusing on bass music of all varieties. He currently works for Native Instruments in Los Angeles as West Coast product specialist and artist coach for Maschine and Komplete, recently contributing programming to the Maschine expansion pack Raw Voltage. His YouTube tutorial on creating wobble bass with Massive has been viewed over 850,000 times, and his moombahton remix of Yael Meyer’s “Fire” was recently featured in the Eli Roth film Aftershock.

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King Britt @ Dubspot! Ableton Live Video Tutorial / Creating Custom Sample Packs

Computo — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:35:19 +0000

King Britt is one of the best-known and most influential DJ/producers to come out of the Philadelphia music scene. In this Dubspot video interview he discusses his new loop/sample pack project Fragments and how the process for making collections of sounds differs from that of producing complete tracks. While demonstrating how he has designed the Fragments series of sample packs, he also shows the versatility of Ableton Live and explains why he uses Ableton as his performance platform.

Britt goes on to stress the importance of selflessness and letting go of the musical ego while developing royalty-free sounds that will inspire other artists. Displaying the intelligence and thought behind his concept for the Fragments series, he demonstrates how these packs can be used for performance or recording and yield unexpected combinations and beats.

A lifelong musician, Britt kicked off his career with his first DJ residency in 1990, helping to popularize dance music in the Philadelphia area. Early success with electronic music productions like “Tribal Confusion” led to Britt joining Digable Planets on tour for two years, and then founding Ovum Recordings together with Josh Wink in 1994. Since then, Britt has continued to keep it fresh by taking what he likes from new sounds without losing his own musical identity, moving through hip hop and house to neo soul, techno and beyond, while remixing artists as diverse as Tori Amos and Miles Davis.

Music Production w/ Ableton Live

NYC COURSES
Morning Classes: March 11, 2013; Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri, 10:15-1pm
Evening Classes: March 19, 2013; Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fri 6:15pm-9pm
Weekend Classes: March 16, 2013; Saturdays, 12:00-6pm

ONLINE COURSES in session with seats still available. Register today!

From the studio to the stage, learn to use Ableton Live to create, record, produce, and perform your music. Learn about linear and improvisational styles of producing electronic music as we help you master the software’s innovative interface.

After completing this program, you will leave with four completed tracks (an EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Sound Design Tutorial w/ FM8: Creating Growl Bass Sounds w/ Native Instruments’ Komplete

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:43:37 +0000

In the latest video tutorial with Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton, we explore designing a ‘growl’ bass sound with vocal characteristics using in Native Instruments’ FM8.

There are many takes on the ‘growl’ bass out there, and in this tutorial, we’ll make a version using only Native Instruments FM8.

To get started, we’ll create a sawtooth wave using a two operator structure. This gives us a nice arrangement of harmonic overtones, and give us a kickstart when sett up modulation. Remember that FM stands for frequency modulation. Think of it as a really fast vibrato. As we increase the amplitude of the modulator, we get more harmonics, which tend to make the sound brighter. We can change the arrangement and character of the harmonics by choosing different waves, altering their tuning, and modulating their amplitudes over time. FM is an extremely powerful approach to synthesis where we are actually building a sound from the ground up. Once the top end character is there, we can add some sub bass to give it some kick. – Evan Sutton

Related Dubspot Courses:

Upcoming Sound Design Courses Starting in New York City and ONLINE:

March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:15-6pm

April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm

The week of January 20, 2013 ONLINE

The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Reaktor Tutorial: Sound Design w/ Native Instruments – Creating a Filter w/ Modulation

admin — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:36:45 +0000

In the latest video tutorial with Dubspot’s sound design course designer and instructor Evan Sutton, we explore filter cutoff modulation in Native Instruments’ Reaktor.

This tutorial will focus on filter cutoff modulation in Reaktor. If you’re new to Reaktor programming, it may be a good idea to check out some of our previous Reaktor tutorials on building a basic synth.

To get started, we’ll add a filter between the oscillator and master fader of a bare bones synthesizer. Reaktor has many different filter modules to choose from, most of which have multiple outputs. For this particular synth, we’ll keep it simple and use the Pro-52 filter, which is a low pass filter developed to sound like the legendary Curtis filters from the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. Remember that in the modular world, an envelope is an envelope, so we’ll use the same basic ADSR setup to modulate the cutoff. The sticking point here is that many of the filters in Reaktor use a specific unit to measure frequency. Once you get the hang of it, routing control in Reaktor becomes a delightful walk in the modular park. – Evan Sutton

Related Dubspot Courses:

UPCOMING Sound Design Courses Starting In New York City and ONLINE:

March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:15-6pm

April 30, 2013 in NYC – Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:15-9pm

The week of January 20, 2013 ONLINE

The week of April 21, 2013 ONLINE

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Logic Tutorial: Granular Synthesis w/ Reaktor (2 of 2) – Secret Knowledge w/ Shadetek Pt 8

admin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:59:20 +0000

Dubspot instructor and course designer Matt Shadetek returns with another episode of Secret Knowledge, a Logic Pro video tutorial series full of production tips, techniques, and advice for Logic users. In part two, Shadetek delves further into resampling and granular synthesis using Logic Pro and Native Instruments’ Reaktor.

In the first installment of this two part video tutorial, we set up a system that allowed us to resample parts of our track in Logic, process them live using the Travelizer instrument in Reaktor, and record that performance as an audio file. (If you haven’t seen that video please watch that first as this video is a continuation of that one.) With our instrument prepared and our routing ready to go now we can focus on the granular synthesis controls inside Travelizer.

The first thing that I find useful is to turn off many of the additional modulations which are going on so we can get to the heart of the sound. Travelizer gives us an X/Y coordinate controller that we can use to adjust the sample playback position and the grain size in real time. In addition to that we have a resonator and two LFOs, one that modulates the pitch of the grains and another that modulates the playback position. The Travelizer also contains a delay and an envelope.

In the video I show how to turn each of these additional functions off and get down to the basic functionality, and then slowly add them back one at a time in order to hear and understand what each one does. I also record a short improvisation with some samples from my track, which I can then use as resampled material to cut into my track as audio. – Matt Shadetek

Related Dubspot Courses

For further exploration of Logic check out Dubspot’s six-level Logic Pro Producer program, designed by Matt Shadetek. In this course (whether at our online school or our physical school in New York City), students will learn to create a four-track EP, starting with a set of musical sketches and developing them over the course of six levels, refining their craft as they advance.

What’s Included

Logic Pro Level 1: Shake Hands with Logic
Logic Pro Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Logic Pro Level 3: Mixing Essentials
Logic Pro Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Logic Pro Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Logic Pro Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

Music Production with Logic Pro start dates:

January 30th in NYC – Wednesdays & Fridays, 6:15-am-9:00pm
The week of January 20th DUBSPOT ONLINE

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Robert Henke aka Monolake Dubspot Interview: Sound Synthesis, Ableton + @ Decibel

admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:45:54 +0000

In September of 2012 Dubspot visited Seattle’s famous Decibel Festival, where we caught up with electronic music pioneer Robert Henke (better known as Monolake, co-developer of Ableton Live) to discuss the past, present and future of Ableton, sound synthesis, music composition, and more.

In our interview the co-creator of Live gave a brief overview of how the program was conceived and discussed the importance of the more recent development of Max For Live, which allows users to program in Cycling 74’s Max directly inside Ableton.

We also visited his Decibel Festival workshop, Sound Spaces and Machines, where he compared music synthesis and physical modeling, and talked about why physical modeling is important in the creation of expressive music. He also emphasized the importance of simplicity and minimalism in the production process, while delivering a sobering message about the overuse of compression in electronic music which he calls “evil”.

Robert Henke/Monolake - www.monolake.de

Decibel Festival - www.dbfestival.com

Ableton - www.ableton.com

Robert Henke builds and operates machines to produce art. He pairs archaic concepts with computer science in order to explore new aesthetic territories between composition, performance and installation. The creation of his own instruments and the results of using them are two sides of the same artistic process.

His art is focused on carefully shaped textural details and gradual changes of repeating structures in different time scales. It is also about volume, power and impact, the tension between silence and noise, and about the exploration of real and virtual auditive spaces.

Henke’s interest in the combination of art and technology is further evident in his contributions to the development of the music software ‘Ableton Live’. For more than a decade since Ableton’s founding in 1999, he has been central to the development of Live, which became the standard tool for electronic music production and completely redefined the performance practice of electronic music.

He writes and lectures about sound and the creative use of computers, and holds a professorship in sound design at the Berlin University of Arts.

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Dubspot First Look: The Propellerhead PX7 FM Synthesizer In Reason 6.5 w/ Chris Petti

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:21:59 +0000

Recently Propellerhead approached me about designing some sounds for a new FM synthesizer in Reason. As you may recall from some of my previous video tutorials, I showed you how to create an FM synth out of several Thors and a Combinator. The purpose was to demonstrate how to get some of the more modern, edgy FM sounds that we associate with dubstep and electro.

Although my method for creating FM sounds this way worked, Propellerhead have made this easier now with a new FM synthesizer engine, the PX7, now available as a Rack Extension for Reason 6.5. The PX7 is a true six-operator FM synth with some dazzling math behind it, resulting in a replica of the Yamaha DX7, the first commercially available FM synth from the early 1980s:

Yamaha DX7

Just so you all know, the DX7 and I didn’t have a great relationship when we first met. I first encountered it in the labs at Berklee when I was studying music synthesis. It was a million miles away from what I wanted to achieve soundwise. I was very into the big, fat, warm analog sounds that I was hearing in all the drum’n'bass tunes I was into at the time. The DX7 was also difficult to program at first. It didn’t make sense to me and was really tedious. It had a very small display that required you to scroll through dozens upon dozens of parameters to create and edit a sound. More importantly to me at the time, it was seemingly not capable of producing the analog sounds I was into.

DX7 Algorithms

Years later, after a revival in software form, FM synthesis has found a very special place in my heart. I now find it to be very exciting as I am now very clear on what I can and can’t do with it. I have developed an appreciation for the highly detailed and exotic sounds that FM can produce. So I hope you all enjoy and appreciate the irony of this situation and my love/hate relationship with FM throughout the years. Most importantly, I hope that you enjoy the lesson in the PX7 and ultimately FM synthesis. – Chris Petti

Become fluent in the language of sound design with this comprehensive program. Our six-level Sound Design program uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, this comprehensive series of courses covers most common synthesis methods available for music production in the DAW of your choice.

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

UPCOMING Sound Design Courses:

January 30, 2013 in NYC – Wednesday and Friday, 6:15-9pm
March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesday and Thursday, 3:15-6pm
May 1, 2013 in NYC – Wednesday and Friday, 3:15-6pm

More start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

If you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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An Electronic Music Dream Come True – Dubspot Student Spotlight: Lane Hanberry

admin — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 17:47:14 +0000

Lane Hanberry suffered a motocross racing accident in February 2011 that gave him a brain contusion and left him in a coma for five days. After coming out of it, he found that he had lost muscle control on his right side and had to relearn basic motor skills like writing from the beginning again.

In this video Lane talks about his accident and how it ultimately led to discovering his passion for electronic music. While still recovering from his injuries, Lane was approached by Dreams Come True, an organization dedicated to helping children and families facing life-threatening conditions to realize their dreams and aspirations. Lane wanted to learn electronic music production and sound design, and with the help of Dreams Come True, he received a week of private lessons with Dubspot instructor Evan Sutton. He is now using Ableton Live and Native Instruments’ Komplete to produce original tracks and create new sounds for his music. In fact, the soundtrack for this video is made of some of Lane’s recent tracks, have a listen…

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Ableton Live Tutorial: ‘Sound Design w/ Common Objects’ – Chris Petti @ Decibel Festival

admin — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:19:32 +0000

During our visit to Seattle’s Decibel Festival earlier this year, Dubspot curriculum director Chris Petti presented a workshop on sound design and music production using the sounds of common household objects like kitchen utensils and fruit…

‘Sound Design with Common Objects’ w/ Chris Petti

Earlier this year Dubspot partnered with Decibel Festival in Seattle to present a series of music production and DJ workshops at this year’s edition of the annual music, technology, and art event. During our visit, Dubspot curriculum director Chris Petti led a music production and sound design workshop, using Ableton Live and a Blue Snowball USB mic to sample and process sounds produced by various household objects including spoons, a fork, fruit, and other common items, showing the kinds of effects that can be made using these sounds as a starting point. Sampling sounds from your immediate environment like this is a great way to come up with fresh new ideas and directions.

What’s Included:

Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

UPCOMING Music Production w/ Ableton Live Course Dates:

January 7, 2013 in NYC – Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, 3:15-6pm
January 30, 2013 in NYC – Wednesday and Friday, 6:15-9pm
March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesday and Thursday, 6:15-9pm

“I summarize my experience at Dubspot as an adventure! I learned the equipment and the mentality. Ableton is now my playground, and I owe it all to Dubspot.” – Peter Ardent

What’s Included:

UPCOMING Sound Design Courses:

January 30, 2013 in NYC – Wednesday and Friday, 6:15-9pm
March 19, 2013 in NYC – Tuesday and Thursday, 3:15-6pm
May 1, 2013 in NYC – Wednesday and Friday, 3:15-6pm

More start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

If you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Sound Alchemy w/ Ableton Live Pt 3: Advanced Instrument Racks – Storm

admin — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:26:20 +0000

This tutorial was completed around a week before Hurricane Sandy reached the US. As someone who was personally affected by Hurricane Sandy in a big way, I can only state the obvious, that there’s nothing more humbling than nature. – Raz Mesinai

We hope that help comes to those who need it the most as soon as possible. Please read: Hurricane Sandy Relief Info.

We recently kicked off a new video tutorial series called Sound Alchemy with Ableton Live featuring Dubspot instructor, composer and producer Raz Mesinai. In this series, Raz creates Effect and Instrument Racks in Ableton Live, taking inspiration from natural sonic phenomena. If you missed the previous episodes of Sound Alchemy, here’s part 1 and part 2. In the third installment of Sound Alchemy, Raz utilizes Ableton’s versatile Analog synthesizer to create the sound of an approaching storm.

Related Dubspot Courses:

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

UPCOMING Music Production w/ Ableton Live Courses Starting In New York City:

January 7, 2013 in NYC – Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, 3:15-6pm

January 30, 2013 in NYC – Wednesdays & Fridays, 6:15-9pm

What’s Included:

Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

UPCOMING Sound Design Courses Starting In New York City:

January 30, 2012 in NYC – Wednesdays and Fridays, 6:15-9pm

What’s Included:

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Dubspot Plug-In Spotlight: Warm Your Mix w/ Slate Digital Virtual Tape (AU / VST) Analog Emulation

Michael Walsh — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:25:17 +0000

Slate Digital’s Virtual Tape Machines (VST / AU) plug-in aims to recreate tape saturation and compression using complex algorithms, capturing the warmth and nuanced sound of analog tape in the digital realm.

Over the past 20 years, the audio industry has followed a steady path into the realm of digital production as computers are providing more power and capability per dollar than most analog gear on the market. This movement is empowering new musicians to create, but it’s also changing the sound of contemporary music. Many of today’s producers are creating music entirely “in the box,” a technique that can be efficient and powerful but sometimes leaves the end musical product with a distinct digital sound. To remedy this, many producers have recently turned to analog tape to achieve a warmer, thicker sound before publishing. But the dilemma here is that tape is expensive, hard to come by, and the process of recording to tape can be time-consuming. Wouldn’t it be easier if someone could emulate the sound of analog tape in the digital realm as well?

To remedy this situation, Slate Digital, creators of high-end boutique mastering tools, have created a new plug-in called Virtual Tape Machines (VST / AU) that aims to replace the reel-to-reel tape deck and give classic analog warmth and compression to digital recordings. To create this new plug-in, Steven Slate (an accomplished professional producer and engineer) tapped into his community of professional engineers to find the best possible reel-to-reel decks to emulate. He then worked with Slate Digital Chief Technology Officer Fabrice Gabriel to create a “comprehensive study of the physical processes that occur when recording to analog tape through a tape machine.” The end result is a program that employs advanced algorithms to recreate the warmth, presence and nuances of a 2 inch 16 track from NRG Recording, and a ½ inch 2 track machine from Howie Weinberg Mastering.

“When we created the Virtual Console Collection it was the first time that I could mix inside the box and really enjoy what I was hearing, and feel that there was no sacrifice. But once we added the virtual tape machine, that just took it to a whole new level. Printing a mix to the virtual half-inch alone just makes the music come out of the speakers in a way that I’ve never heard before in the digital domain.” - Steven Slate

In practice, VTM delivers a warm, rich, and smooth sound that gives analog tape a run for its money. While the program isn’t cheap ($199 retail), it delivers pro quality sound at a price far under that of an actual reel-to-reel, with results that are so similar that you probably wouldn’t be able to hear the difference. The plug-in can be used on individual tracks to bring presence to parts of your mix, or it can be used for your mixdown, giving the entire mix a richer sound. VTM offers two tape machine types (2″ and 1/2″) and two speeds (15 ips and 30 ips), with both virtual machines offering control of noise reduction, wow & flutter, bass alignment, bias settings, level calibration, and grouping control.

“We take modeling very seriously. It’s a no-frills approach, it’s a no-compromise approach. Either we recreate the exact sound of what these tape machines are doing, or we don’t release the plug-in. These are famous tape machines that thousands of major pro engineers have heard, and I’m not gonna insult them by trying to add extra stuff. We want to recreate the sound of these machines and what they do. Because what they do is perfect.” - Steven Slate

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Dubspot Sound Design Program – Student Experience (Video) + Testimonials

admin — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:04:28 +0000

In this video, Dubspot students talk about their experiences in our six-level Sound Design program which uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, students learn the fundamentals of sound design and synthesis using the most common methods available for music production in this comprehensive series of courses in the DAW of your choice. This program is available in our physical school in New York City as well as our Online School.

UPCOMING Sound Design Courses Starting In New York City:

Registration open until November 27, 2012 in NYC – Wednesdays and Fridays, 6:15-9pm

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

More start dates and payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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iOS / iPad Music App Roundup: Changeling Sequencer, Werkbench, Synergy Studio, Sonic Logic

Michael Walsh — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:15:58 +0000

In this month’s iOS / iPad music app roundup, we take a look at a new diatonic chord sequencer (Changeling), a grid-based sequencer (Synergy Studio), a steampunk-inspired loop creation tool (Werkbench), and a new modular MIDI controller (Sonic Logic).

Changeling Sequencer

One of the most exciting music composition applications that we’ve come across recently is Changeling Sequencer ($4.99) from developer TvanD. This app is billed as a “Flexible Diatonic Chord Sequencer” that supports 16 MIDI channels, iOS MIDI, and imported sounds. Where Changeling differs from most other sequencer applications is in its unique interface that allows you to input a series of monophonic notes and then turn those notes into different sorts of chords, depending on the scale and root note that you apply. In practice it’s a bit similar to Henrik Schwarz’s Max for Live effect “Schwarzonator,” except that Changeling can be used with multiple instruments at once in a self-contained application that runs on your iPad. Changeling is receiving lots of support from users including German techno producer Maxime Dangles, who created a Max for Live patch that allows you to control and record Changeling parameter changes from Ableton Live. With stable connectivity, consistent updates, and a dedicated user base, Changeling Sequencer looks like a great way to create complex chord progressions easily from your iPad.

Werkbench

Werkbench ($4.99) is a clever loop-creation and performance application developed by Bolasol and released earlier this year with the description “steampunk beat box.” While the initial launch had slipped beneath our radar, it’s recently come to be one of our favorite inspiration tools on the iPad. With an interface that combines deceptively fun graphics, a sampler, two 16-step sequencers, effects, and a DJ-style mixer, Werkbench quickly generates loops from any source material you can find. While the app isn’t MIDI-capable (yet?), the results of the self-contained audio loops are inspiring and they can be exported and shared in a variety of ways.

Synergy Studio

4PocketsAudio (creators of other iOS music apps including the Meteor multitrack recorder and the StompBox guitar effects rack) have recently announced a new sequencer application for the iPad called Synergy Studio that will be released on December 3, 2012. Synergy Studio bundles a grid-based sequencer allowing up to 64 notes per pattern and four instrument types (drums, synthesizer, sample and pad synth) together with a mixer and effects, creating an all-in-one loop creation tool. In addition to its onboard sounds, the application supports Bluetooth connectivity for project sharing and also supports iOS MIDI to connect to sequencing hardware or other apps on your iPad.

Sonic Logic

Sonic Logic is a new modular MIDI controller for the iPad that is slated for release in late November. While we don’t know very much about this app yet, we’re impressed to see a number of videos online that show the application controlling Logic, Reason, and Ableton Live with ease. In addition, the company’s Twitter feed promises Traktor support in the near future. Check the Sonic Logic Facebook page for more information and updates on this forthcoming MIDI controller app for the iPad.

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