Pumping Reverb

This next little trick is so fresh, it's still hot from the oven. I've only just started using this one on some very recent tunes.

So, you've got a nice little synth stab, a clean guitar riff or maybe just a little plink sound like the one just here:

Bland, boring and doesn't have any character whatsoever. The first thing you then think of is "Hey, I'll put some reverb on it just like I learnt last week. It will then have it's own space and maybe even a bit more character." Let's see how that sounds...

Yeah not bad. It certainly sounds a lot better but it is still not quite enough, is it?. The technique that I've been using to make it more interesting involves setting the original sound to trigger the pumping of the reverb using a sidechain compressor. Sound complicated? It's not really. Have a look at this picture.

You can see that from the input sound (ie. your synth stab, guitar etc.), the unchanged signal goes directly to the master output. However, this sound is also routed to a reverb that is set to 100% wet. Before we sum this with the unchanged signal, however, it is run through the compressor which, with the sidechain, lowers the signal each time the stab hits or the guitar is strummed. Think of it as the reverb only being heard when the original signal is not.

This is what it sounds like:

See how the reverb has now got it's own rhythm? And in the context of the song, it sounds like this:

Much more interesting than the bland plinking sound we had originally. Can you hear the reverb pump?

The easiest way to set this signal path up is to use your returns (sends) with the reverb and compressor sitting on one return. In Ableton Live, however, you can utilise the racks by having one chain for the dry signal and one chain for the reverb and compressor. You may even want to save this rack for use in future projects.

In this song I have even used a similar technique on the bassline but instead of the sidechain compressor, I used the sidechain fakey to keep a constant pump. Can you hear it here?

For those of you who were paying attention you may have noticed that I have an EQ in front of the reverb in the chain above. Now you don't have to EQ the reverb chain every time (and you could even use the EQ in the reverb itself) but it can be useful to throw a high pass filter on it. This cuts out the low end of the reverb and gives the reverb more of an air-like wooshing sound.

Things to try at home

- Adjust the levels of the dry signal and the compressed reverb signal to taste. Sometimes less reverb is more.

- Adjust the EQ of the reverb signal. Sometimes you want that rumble in your reverb

- Try out the compressor settings above but also try different thresholds and attack and release times.

- Why not sidechain fakey if you want a constant rhythmic pump.

Take My Hand - Work in Progress

To be a bit different, I thought I would post up a track that I am currently working on (not one that is already finished and released). It's a fairly uplifting progressive track and at this stage, it is just an instrumental.

I've written most of the lyrics for it and once I throw this cold, I'll be doing some vocal recording.

So in the meantime, I'd love some feedback. Does any part of the mix sound out of place? Do you think I should add more parts? Do you reckon I should simply cut a section out? Throw any feedback my way; positive or negative. I can take it!

A snapshot of the lyrics

Take my hand but don't take it too seriously,

Understand I've got what you need.

Don't pretend you've been here previously

De Ja Vu, I know what you mean.

It's about two strangers that meet at a festival and spend the day together. They've only just met but they've never been so close...

Side Project - Teatime in Technicolor

So when I'm not writing club tunes, I like to slow it down a bit and get a little more jazzy.

I am in a duo called Teatime in Technicolor with the fabulous Suzie on vocals. We have been writing steadily for the last three months and we've already had a couple of gigs in Brisbane.

If you like the music, you can download it for FREE: http://teatime.bandcamp.com/

Enjoy, tell your friends or even send us an email.

To Blog or not to Blog.

Okay so I write this little blog to let you guys know what I have been up to. However, I also read other people's blogs and useful websites.

Here is my little list of useful Blogs and blog type sites!

New Music Strategies

URL: http://www.newmusicstrategies.com
Author: Andrew Dubber
Content: Advice and information for independent artists and online music businesses. This blog covers many issues encountered by artists in the online music environment and attempts to explore new marketing strategies and services. Make sure you check out Andrew’s fantastic ebook, The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online.
New Content: Weekly

Music Think Tank

URL: http://www.musicthinktank.com
Author: Various
Content: This blog covers various topics such as music production, theory, marketing, touring, etc. It is written by a regular group of authors who have a background in the music industry. There is also an open forum where anyone can post an article.
New Content: Weekly

The Music Software Training Blog

URL: http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com/blog/
Author: Jason
Content: This blog covers topics such as audio engineering, mixing, mastering, creativity, productivity, promotion etc. It’s focus is on Ableton Live and has a heap of video tutorials.
New Content: Fortnightly

Pro Juice

URL: http://www.projuice.org/

Authors: Arlo Enemark et al

Content: Video tutorial on various DIY studio, live and recording techniques. Also covers film production and multimedia.

New Content: Fortnightly

Kim Lajoie's Blog

URL: http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/

Author: Kim Lajoie

Content: This blog covers many production techniques and useful studio tips from using compressors, creativity and composition to setting up a recording session

New Content: Almost Daily

Create Digital Music

URL: http://www.createdigitalmusic.com
Author: Various
Content: News, tips, reviews, features, DIY music making, emerging trends, advanced software and experimental interfaces.
New Content: Daily

New Release & Free MP3!

As a thank you for reading my blog, I thought I would give you a little freebie.

Click on the artwork below to download the free MP3. woo!

Deeper (Pretension Remix) - Winston & Yoddy ft. Caroline is my latest and most exciting release and it is now available at Beatport, iTunes and Juno etc. Go get it now!

Mix Gel

Okay this is a quick and easy one.

You’re kick and bass are now awesome and you’ve decided to throw a few more elements into the mix: some percussion, a few synths, maybe a chopped up vocal or two. Nutting away for a few hours you get everything in the right place. The rhythm and beats work well with each other but you just can’t get it to gel. The time has come for you to throw some pants on, walk down to your local chemist and get yourself some Mix Gel®.

Unfortunately, Mix Gel® is expensive S#!$ and most chemists don’t stock it due to it’s unsightly side effects. Fortunately, however, I’m going to write up the procedure so you can make your own mix gel at home.

The technique that I am referring to involves using a single reverb to blanket all (or select) elements in your mix to bring them into the same space. For example, if you were to throw a band into a room and put one stereo mic in the middle and then listen to the playback, what would you hear? Apart from a hell of a lot of noise, you would hear each instrument of the band and the reverb that has now flooded the room. This reverb would be unique to the room and would be a product of the instruments that the band is using. When writing electronic music or any music where you are pulling sounds from different sources, (synths, recordings, sample packs etc.) however, you start writing without reverb. You’re gonna want to throw it back into the mix when you can.

Okay have a listen to this first sample:

A kick, some shakers, and a couple of synths. Easy. It doesn’t sound too bad if I may say so myself but it just doesn’t quite mesh. It’s sounds a bit stagnant and a bit stale, right?

The first thing that I do is put a reverb on a return track. I often do this before I have even written any of the parts. Set the Dry/Wet mix to 100%. Then set the Decay Time and Predelay to suit your track and the sound that you are going for ie. big and boomy, light and spacey. I also tend to activate the filter and set it to a high pass filter. I don’t usually want the low end of my bass booming through a reverb and muddying up my mix after I’ve been especially careful EQing it.

So now you’ve got the reverb set up, you are going to want to send something to it. I send all of my percussion over to this reverb and most of the synths that I work with. It’s not often that I send my kick or my bass but give it a go. It might work for you. There are a few things to consider though:
- Always have the track Audio To set to Master – this will ensure that your sounds are sent to your return track and your master simultaneously.
- Don’t send 100% of each element to the return track – experiment with how much you send but I tend to not send any more than -10dB. This is effectively controlling your dry/wet mix.

Now how does it sound?

It finally sticks together! Woo. You might have noticed that I have sent more synth to the reverb than percussion. I wanted to keep the reverb on the percussion rather subtle with this track but the synths just sounded so good with a good dose of reverb. So you understand what I am talking about, here is a sample of the reverb on its own.

It is amazing how subtle the reverb is. It’s volume here is relative to the total mix so you might want to turn your speakers up.

There we go. Here are some things to try out at home:
- Throw a Sidechain Fakey on your reverb track to get it pumping.
- Automate how much of each track you send to the reverb over each phrase. This will keep your track moving and works great for subtle build-ups when you ramp up the reverb.

By the way the track that you have been hearing is going to be released on Kitschy Records (UK) on the 26^th of June. Keep an eye out for it in your favourite online store. In the meantime, have a listen…

Saturated Phat

Okay, so you have heard me ramble on about how to get your kick and your bass to sit tight together, but what do you do if you just want your bassline to sound fat, dirty and generally warble around like our friends, The Crookers? I have discovered one of the simplest tools around that can push you a little closer towards the PHatness. Yes, that’s right with a capital P.H.

Enter Saturator!

Now the trusty Ableton manual says,

“Saturator is a wave waveshaping effect that can add that missing dirt, punch or warmth to your sound. It can coat input signals with a soft saturation or drive them into many different flavors of distortion.”

Fairly straightforward hey? Think of the saturator as an effect that adds colour and warmth to the sound you run through it. If you are hunting that dynamic, analog-esque sound from your stale digital synths and effects, then keep reading. If you’ve got no idea what I am on about, keep reading.

Let me show you with an example. Here I have the 1st unsaturated bass riff:

I have used the wonderful TAL-Bassline for this riff and dropped a sidechain fakey on it to get it to pump with the kick. It’s nice. It’s got a solid square wave and it could almost pass as the real Roland SH-101.

But is it enough? You’ve heard the sound before on every 2^nd electro house tune out there but you are one of the few producers who strive to be different, strive to be unique.

Now with the Saturator and the “A Bit Warmer” preset:

Did you notice the change in temperature? Can you feel the warmth. The low end of the bass feels more whole and certainly has a lot more character. Here is the riff in the context of the song:

Now this second sample is a slightly different sounding bass:

It’s run though a low pass filter to cut all the high frequencies. Don’t worry though; the distortion provided by the Saturator will bring back all the high frequencies we want.

Now with the Saturator and the “Rectifier” preset:

Now this sound gets me excited. You’ve got the bass driving through underneath with plenty of portamento. With this riff, however, I’ve automated the cut off frequency and resonance on the low pass filter to give the saturator something to bite onto. The bass is moving and opening up over the eight bars. Here it is in the context of the song:

Now it’s time for you to try it at home:

- Throw any sound at the Saturator, see what sticks and remember what sounds good.
- Experiment with the dry/wet mix of your saturated and unsaturated sounds. Especially useful for big dirty build ups.
- Mess around with the settings. Especially with the Color Frequency.
- Experiment with high pass or lo pass filter before or after the Saturator. You’ll be amazed how drastically the sounds change when you cut a few frequencies out.
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