[How to use Ableton Live] How to make drum beats (Part 2) - Sample processing (Snare edition)
1. Introduction
Hello there.Following the previous Kick edition this is the Snare drum edition.
I introduced the basics of snare drums
previously. ↓
This time,
it will be a bit more professional.
There are 4 key points!!!!
✅ Attack
✅ Body
✅ Tail
✅ Sizzle (adding realism)
These are the points.
2. Creating the attack
① Add audio to the
Arrangement View.
The best timbre for the attack part is
"CLAP".
* Select "Clap 808 Dry.aif"
from the samples included with Ableton.
② Adjust the decay to make it shorter
<Adjustment method 1>
Adjust with a fade-out.
Drag the red circled area in the figure below
to the left to get a good length.
<Adjustment method 2>
Set the Warp mode to "Beats",
turn off transients,
and set the envelope to 0.
* Since this method makes the sound quieter,
increase it with Gain.
We will use <Adjustment method 1> this time.
Let's check
the finished timbre.
3. Creating the body
A tom is best for the body.
1. Select "Hi Tom 04.aif" from the Ableton Live samples.
2. Adjust the decay, just as you did for the attack.
Check the tone at this point below:
4. Creating the tail
A snare sample is best for the tail section.
*Personally, I feel that an acoustic sound matches well.
1. Select "Hi Tom 04.aif" from the Ableton Live samples.
2. Adjust the decay.
Check the sound below:
5. Adding sizzle
Add
noise to add a sizzle effect.
1. Select "Clap Noise 1.aif" from the Ableton Live samples.
2. Adjust the decay.
Check the sound below:
6. Tuning
Let's combine the four sounds at this point and
listen to them.
Hmm, the tuning is
all over the place.
I will insert "Spectrum" on the master track to
check the peak pitch and
adjust it accordingly.
In this case,
I will match it to the pitch of the tail.
Since I can see that the pitch of the tail is "G3",
I will adjust the other timbres to
"G" as well.
<Attack>
<Body>
<Sizzle>
Now, let's
listen to the
tuned timbres.
Oh, that sounds pretty good.
7. Adjustment using effects
Through the steps up to 6,
the timbre has become reasonably usable,
but this is where the real work begins.
I will use effects to
finish it into an even punchier
sound.
The effects I will use are
✅EQ8
✅OverDrive
✅Reverb
✅Saturator
✅DrumBuss
✅GlueCompressor
I suppose that's about it.
Let's look at them in order.
<Attack>
<Body>
<Tail>
<Sizzle>
Finally,
group all audio tracks
and combine them into a Bus.
Apply effects to this Bus as well.
The key is to
apply the reverb lightly.
<Supplementary note>
Can you notice anything by looking at this?
It is slightly shifted.
If you don't like the sample,
change it to another one,
or perhaps adjust the decay
to fine-tune it.
Once you are satisfied, resample it
and convert it to audio.
<Supplementary note 2>
By the way, at this stage, the output of the
drum bus is likely peaking
well beyond the limit ( ´∀｀ )
I didn't know this when I was a beginner either, but
most DAWs process audio internally at 32-bit float,
so as long as it doesn't peak
at the master output,
there is no major problem.
↑ As you can see, it is exceeding the limit by 11.7 dB.
Many people might be wondering, so let's verify it.
The waveform obtained by resampling
the drum bus in this state
is as shown below.
It looks like the peaks are clipped
like this, but what happens
if you turn down the gain?
The answer is in the figure below.
You can confirm that the sound
is recorded properly
without being clipped.
Since I understood this,
I stopped worrying too much about
peaking within tracks.
<Bonus>
By the way, what happens if it is
24-bit instead of 32-bit?
Let's experiment.
If you record using the same steps as before
and lower the gain,
it will look like the figure below.
Oh dear, the peaks are crushed.
This is a topic that beginners
surprisingly do not know.
Let's check the finished sound.
I combined it with the kick from last time.
I have created a slightly cheesy,
damp snare with the high frequencies I like.
8. Conclusion
How was it?
I used a sample this time, but
the same logic applies to synths,
allowing for aggressive processing.
I hope you can feel the possibilities
of sound design
by being bold
with your processing.