Sound Design - Theory and Technique

[strawMan]

he said he likes techno with some attitude and he likes non 4x4 kick patterns.Show me one Tom Hades track who fits to that!!!

Hehe - true!

[arc]

@ARiFF

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that. I was hoping people would've shared more of their actual techniques in this thread, like you have done.

I do something similar to what you've explained. I use Cubase and Steinberg's sampler HALion 4. What I'll do is map a bunch of percussive samples to the keyboard. Then I'll create a 1 bar MIDI part and draw in a bunch of random notes. I'll copy that a bunch of times so it loops. Then I'll go in to HALion and modulate the filter cutoff with either a LFO or step mod. I'll do the same to the pitch and other parameters of the individual samples (panning, resonance, etc.). This usually yields a very strange loop that works great with techno. I rarely bounce the loops to audio though. I hear about people building loop libraries, which is something I've yet to do. I usually build my sampler patches specifically for one track.

@Hades

Yeah I doubt that book is going to teach me anything that I don't already know. But I love books and gathering information from wherever I can. I'll read some reviews before I pick it up, just to make sure that I'm not wasting my money.

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Here's a technique that I employ to create some really nice techno loops. You can do this in just about any synth or DAW and it should work all the same.

I'll open up a synth, say Arturia's Modular V for instance, and load an init patch. Then I'll create a MIDI part and either draw random notes or a melody in. I'll tweak the synth so that the arpeggiator plays when notes are on. I'll then modulate the filter cutoff, frequency mod, and ring mod with either an LFO or the sequencer. Once I have a really strange synth line going, I'll slap a chorus and delay over it and blam, I have a really awesome sounding loop that will sound great when sidechained to a kick.

I'm guessing that's techno-synth programming 101, but that's one of my secret weapons.

[Mslwte]

I have been watching this thread closely, just waited to post something since guys like Steve and Mattias are much more informed about Sound design as me. Must say i have read some nice stuff allready, this is a huge thread or becoming one as we speak. Being a child of the digital generation ( an early one than ) my favourite tool to work with is offcourse pc's and everything electronic which i can get my hands on. I have read some techniques being used by others here and i was a bit surprised because mine might be a bit different to what people are used to. Allow me to explain.

( please read this reply, keeping in mind that my english is not my native language, anything i write here may sound cocky, if it is : it was not meant to be )

I come from an artistic family, basically the same as Steve's. At early age my parents really encouraged me to develop my creativity and fantasy which resulted in the person who i am today. From the start untill now i have been absorbing information like a sponge, and lately i feel like i'm able to start releasing some of that information in a modulated form. In sound design this results in a mass of techniques some may describe as "random" or "fiddling", to me it's perfectly organised and at each moment i know what im doing, or where i'm going to. Though this doesnt mean i will have a specific result at the end of a session. Sometimes its just plain noise, other days i leave with an entire new sampleset. I can't really explain "what" it is exactly that i do, because it's never the same.

An example :

sometimes i just fill a drumrack in Ableton with a bunch of samples, say 30 or 40. Now ( and this is what i love so much about Ableton ) I load up some midi effects like the random trigger and arpeggiator, or even use some Max script to start creating some sounds. When i feel like it, i might even create 3 or 4 channels this way and start recording random parts into audiotracks. This leaves me with a huge load of audiotracks. Now there's been moments i just start cutting those up and filter out unusable parts, other days i just arrange these audiotracks in clips and start triggering those again, untill i end up with even more strangeness. The possibilities are endless and if you have a keen ear for melody and rhythm, there's practically always something you can use. Often it happens that i end up with some sounds that still need processing before i'm able to use them. I have been doing this on a regular basis and have started building my own sample library this way. The fun thing about it is also that i never ever have 2 samples which are the same, and using the random warps and triggers, these sounds are nowhere to be found but on my disks. I like that idea and it makes me feel at ease.

I have used field recordings with this technique, but also resampled stuff from old records, speeches, whatever falls under the category sound has been mangled & recycled into new sounds. When i start a new track, i see it as a blank canvas, which i'm painting with sound. But not only paint, also pieces of texture, smearing, plaster, and so on. The possibilities are endless, and it's only your imagination which limits your artworks.

Offcourse i also use synths and create patches and stuff, but when i'm really locked into my music world, usually those end up in my Ableton recycle-o-tron and come out as something totally different. This technique has one major problem though, while creating sounds and working on a track, not everything that comes out of it is usable for that exact track at that moment. Thats why i use the library to store them, but also to fish pieces out of it to use in the track im working on at that time.

i'm sure some people wont be able to work this way, but for me it does and honestly thats what counts. I havent released a track yet using the bricolage technique basically because working that way takes a lot of time, and i want to polish these tracks as long as needed before i let them go...

maybe this aint much of an exciting technique to work with, but it sure is fun and i'm still amazed by those random results you get from scrambling everything together.

ARiFF

i would really like to hear some samples that you have created from this technique!! i always approach a new "track" in a similar way, as i have a blank canvass. i just try and create "techno". i dont think ive ever made a track that sounds the same as another..

[kuba_rubacha]

ade a track that sounds the same as another.......all your tracks sound the same man....umc.umc umc umc umc:-P

[Críoch]

Here's a technique that I employ to create some really nice techno loops. You can do this in just about any synth or DAW and it should work all the same.

I'll open up a synth, say Arturia's Modular V for instance, and load an init patch. Then I'll create a MIDI part and either draw random notes or a melody in. I'll tweak the synth so that the arpeggiator plays when notes are on. I'll then modulate the filter cutoff, frequency mod, and ring mod with either an LFO or the sequencer. Once I have a really strange synth line going, I'll slap a chorus and delay over it and blam, I have a really awesome sounding loop that will sound great when sidechained to a kick.

I'm guessing that's techno-synth programming 101, but that's one of my secret weapons.

Thats nice man.. Random FTW

[Críoch]

he said he likes techno with some attitude and he likes non 4x4 kick patterns.Show me one Tom Hades track who fits to that!!!

Hehe - true!

Hahahahahaha

[Críoch]

Sometimes I'll do a pattern of 4 bars & repeat it 3 times, with small changes in it etc.. 4/3/4?

There's something nice about using loops as well.

I had the opinion that using loops was kinda inferior for discovering how to build up rhythms instead of building them up with one-shots but lately I've started resampling stuff on a machinedrum and pitching the loop within a 4/4 beat.

the results are enjoyable as it gives a sort of unquantised quality to the rhthym ..

I'm definitely gonna try that Colm. That sounds wicked.

[Críoch]

English isn't my first language, but still I write perfectly & have nothing to worry about..


Love

ARiFF x x x (o) [Special Hug]

Mate.. your english is perfect. A lot better than some people I could name & shame (but wont hahaa)

Really like that random midi plug idea. I always shoot in midi notes randomly.. select all & just move them up & down in the clip.. but even that isnt THAT random really haha. I'd love to hear a raw loop & then a short loop after processing. I know it'll be rough as fuck mate.. but we're intrigued like vultures around a dead body

[failed_utopia]

one thing I quite enjoy is spending some time recording live audio of jamming on a synth maybe 2 or three minutes, then I might save it in a folder as audio and then retrieve it later, not really listen too it and start chopping it up with midi and playing it. MLR is fun for this too.

I like to do the same with field samples, using atmospheric recordings, and playing them as single shots (like at 1/4 or an 1/8th note) then automating the playhead of the sampler where whatever crackles/noises that are part of the atmosphere pop out randomly...

Sometimes it's just noise, sometimes it's sublime.

[ARiFF]

you shouldn't feel like you should wait because there are guys more experienced than you. There will always be people more experienced than you, and maybe they might not learn as much from what you have to say (or maybe they will), but there will also always be people less experienced than you, who might still learn a lot from whatever you can contribute.

ah i'm sorry ! Usually im not waiting or holding back to post replies or write my opinion in threads, only this time i was kinda impressed with what had been said already. Felt like i didnt have to add anything interesting to enhance what was already there, so thats why i waited a bit.

Maybe chef A knows his way around pretty much French, Italian, Chinese,... whatever kitchen. Put him in any kind of restaurant with any kind of ingredients, and he'll always end up with a good dish. Chef B, on the other hand, is perfect at making all kinds of seafood.
But maybe some amateur chef has a perfect way to make a killer pesto (let's stay in theme here).
Chef A and B would be fools not to listen to him if he wants to explain how he does it.

Dont think thats the problem ( for me than ) here at least, more than enough people willing to elaborate on stuff just have to ask. Thats why this board started in the first place anyways, to get rid of the "you noob, me david guetta" style of threads where people ask questions which never get answered or with the standard nonsense like "you need to practice". Everyone knows practice makes perfect, but sometimes you just need a little push in the right direction in order to make the mental switch to go from knowing to understanding.

I lurv pesto btw

Nice technique, I must try this out some day.
I kind of do a similar thing but not with the random triggering, and not with drum racks.
I love the fact that you'll always end up with something this way.
To me it doesn't matter if whatever I'll end up with is usable in the track I'm working on or not. I simply had a lot of fun, and I have more stuff in my private library.
And somewhere somehow you'll always learn a little technique extra here and there. Just small things, but they all help in the end.
The only thing I find hard sometimes is naming those clips. The more clips I make, the harder it becomes to name them...

Well the "technique" if you can even call it that, might not be the most awesome, but it's guaranteed to give you results and in the end its what you do with those results which will matter anyways. Sometimes i keep like 2 or 3 small loops, or even 1 or 2 single samples, sometimes its a lot more. Actually i stumbled into doing this by accident, im an anti-manualist ( hehe ) but when i do things myself, thats when i learn stuff. So in the first days off my Ableton sessions, when i still was completely clueless i accidentally dumped arpeggiator's and such on drumtracks, it created a wall of sound but also, for me personally thats where i first got convinced about Ableton's power. ( A previous confrontation a few years before, things didnt go that well, and i really hated Ableton with its fancy design and such fyi )

@ARiFF
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that. I was hoping people would've shared more of their actual techniques in this thread, like you have done.

Hehe, most welcome m8, and sometimes just a simple handson explanation of a technique is enough to spark a huge load of creativity for others.

i would really like to hear some samples that you have created from this technique!! i always approach a new "track" in a similar way, as i have a blank canvass. i just try and create "techno". i dont think ive ever made a track that sounds the same as another..

If you guys give me a bit of time, i'll be happy to show how my ADD brain interacts with Ableton. I'll even screencap it if you guys like. I have to admit that i have a pretty nice instrument rack build throughout my randomnisation journeys, so it really reflects the way i work. I only use it for sound design because basically its unplayable live. Kinda like a tailored jacket or however they call that. If there's anyone interested in it i'll upload it somewhere so you can have a play aswell. Im not responsible for neighbours complaining, wives "eyeing" you, aso though

Mate.. your english is perfect. A lot better than some people I could name & shame (but wont hahaa)

Really like that random midi plug idea. I always shoot in midi notes randomly.. select all & just move them up & down in the clip.. but even that isnt THAT random really haha. I'd love to hear a raw loop & then a short loop after processing. I know it'll be rough as fuck mate.. but we're intrigued like vultures around a dead body

hmm i cant remember writing down the reply which you quoted John. Probably just me, i forget stuff due to age.

Well have you considered this for randomness : What if you would nest Randoms with arpeggiators, or even with other randoms... Now that would end in total chaos by pressing one button

I'll trie to record some stuff tonite or go through my lib see what i can find. Prob is i usually dont keep the raw stuff, only what ive processed afterwards...

BTW : @Hades : im interested in one of your private studio sessions about synthesis and such. If you still do them, and you're not too far away offcourse.

[Hades]

he said he likes techno with some attitude and he likes non 4x4 kick patterns.Show me one Tom Hades track who fits to that!!!

Hehe - true!

I will admit Tom Hades' tracks are a bit too ummm... "polished" for my taste.
In flemish we'd say "gladjes", or even better "afgelekt"
not my cup of tea.

[Hades]

If you guys give me a bit of time, i'll be happy to show how my ADD brain interacts with Ableton. I'll even screencap it if you guys like. I have to admit that i have a pretty nice instrument rack build throughout my randomnisation journeys, so it really reflects the way i work. I only use it for sound design because basically its unplayable live. Kinda like a tailored jacket or however they call that. If there's anyone interested in it i'll upload it somewhere so you can have a play aswell. Im not responsible for neighbours complaining, wives "eyeing" you, aso though

I'd love to try out one of those racks.
so it'd be great if you could put it up somewhere.

I'll send you a PM as soon as I have some time.

[ARiFF]

I will admit Tom Hades' tracks are a bit too ummm... "polished" for my taste.
In flemish we'd say "gladjes", or even better "afgelekt"
not my cup of tea.

About the instrument rack : i'll trie to clean it up somewhat and have some decent labels on it so you dont have to start tracing back all the way what button does what. I'll get on it one of these days when i have some extra time left.

[Esh]

I will admit Tom Hades' tracks are a bit too ummm... "polished" for my taste.
In flemish we'd say "gladjes", or even better "afgelekt"
not my cup of tea.

polished turds