For the next few tips, we’re going to take a look at kick drum synthesis. What started all of this was a tip submission that came in a week or so ago…
If you’re new to synthesizing drums, today’s tip is a great one to get you started. Once you’ve gotten up to speed with this one, we’ll go quite a bit deeper and look at lots of different techniques. If you’ve got any to contribute, please send them my way!
And now, I turn you over to David D.L. of Montreal, Canada and the Electro-Pop duo PopChoppers…
First, drop a default Operator into a MIDI track. Set the algorithm to the last setting on the right : the four little squares side by side. This makes Operator act like a four oscillator subtractive synth.
Set oscillator A to Sine (the default), crank the release time up to 410ms for a nice big thump, and pull the Sustain all the way down. This will be the main body of the sound.
You can also set the Velocity sensitivity of the osc (Vel) to 70% for a more dynamic response.
Next Up, dial in the settings for oscillator B. This is the clicky attack (without which the sound would be as dull as a Celine Dion Christmas song!).
Set Wave to Square D and pull the Sustain level all the way down. Set the Decay to anywhere between 1 and 50ms to get just enough click to feel the attack. This oscillator has a very short but quite useful existence…
OK, these are the first few steps! In the next tip we’ll get this thing to actually sound like a kick drum…
To learn more about today’s guest tipster, check out these links:
band website: www.popchoppers.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/PopChoppers/11753229749
myspace: www.myspace.com/popchoppersmusic
