I get fixated on microcosms of sound. While describing them is only part of the story, I suppose it’s rather like opening a (wanted) box of chocolates and luxuriating in each one’s unique taste. I shall have an in-action example of this later, but I delight preparing the following recipe for "fried ride cymbals" in Able-town:
- Perform a gently swung ride cymbal on a MIDI track. I tend to go for a 2-, 4-, or 8-bar loop. Preferably, with velocity switching for dynamics. I play in the pattern live so it has that natural groove, then I quantize 50% of the way, and another 50% if it’s too "loose" (but sometimes you want that).
- Apply the Saturator so you get some added sheen and even intentional distortion. That crisps it up.
- Add heavy dynamic compression so it pumps, almost claustrophobically at times. Don’t worry, there’s a counterpoint to this.
- Add some vinyl effect with hints of crackle — this is where we approach "it sounds like a vintage record sample without originating there".
- Freeze the track, flatten it to audio. F&F are steps I do often, as some edits are more flexibility performed in the audio realm.
- Chop out little bits here and there so there are gaps in the vinyl’s ambience. Alone, this can be unsettling. Coupled with other drum tracks and more of a comprehensive arrangement, the spaces create intrigue and allow breaths for other instruments to make their mark.
- Finally, shift cymbals around and add flavor.and variation. This can involve some subtle pitchbending on the clips to displace our sense of tone and timbre. I like occasions of extreme timestretching to provide surreal warp graininess; artifacts I’ve been making my own.
A similar sound in terms of shade can be found in the work of Amon Tobin, Four Tet, and others who actually sample jazz records. I’ve mostly done it the above way, altho I’m not opposed to cheekily nicking a hi-hat here and there.
Beyond the rawpass, perhaps in the future I’ll do step-by-step tutorials of these thoughts which rush to the forefront of my mind. *gazes admirably at Audiotuts+* I’ve been musing over it awhile but tend to get carried away by digging into practical productions. OHMY.
{ 2 trackbacks }