Subject:Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Posted by: Jay Gladwell

Date:3/17/2005 4:35:26 AM

Okay, here's the situation. Take, for example, a loop or serries of loops of any given instrument, say a saxophone. You put that on the track. Now you have the sound of one saxophone. However, you want it to sound like three saxophones. How would do that you that?

When I lay down three tracks of the same instrument, it just sounds louder, not like the number of instruments have increased.

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:3/17/2005 5:02:18 AM

> When I lay down three tracks of the same instrument, it just sounds louder, not like the number of instruments have increased.

You have to tell the horn players to not be so exact. ;-) Think about how three sax players would play. Would they play at exactly the same time? No. Would they hit each note dead-on? No. So take the second and third copy and do one of two things or both to them:

Double-click on the event of one of the saxophones and change the Start offset (sample) so that they no longer start at exactly the same time. Make these different for two of the saxophones. Also adjust Pitch shift (semitones) maybe 0.050 for one and 0.70 for the other (or even down -0.030). That’s a musical increment called cents which are hundredths of a semitone. This will slightly detune them.

Finally, three sax plays cannot stand in the same place at the same time. Not my laws, just the laws of physics. “Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time”. So pan one a little left, another a little right, and leave the third one in the middle.

If you get the combination correct, you will have a fairly convincing sax section. Don’t forget that one sax might play a 5th above or octave above or below so you can use the +/- keys to pitch shift in semi tones up and down. Seven (7) semitones is a musical 5th and 12 semitones is an octave.

I show you how to do this in the new Introduction to ACID DVD from VASST. Unfortunately, its not available yet :( (still putting some finishing touches on it ) but it will cover these topics. I also show you how to chop one horn phrase into an entire horn section.

~jr

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/17/2005 10:50:04 AM

Adding to what JohnnyRoy mentioned, you can create a natural-sounding chorus effect by clicking an event (or selecting multiple events), then use your numpad's 4 or 6 keys. (Nudge left and nudge right respectively.

Remember that nudging is done by pixels, which means how far the event is nudged will depend on your zoom level. If it's zoomed all the way out, a nudge could really send the event forward or back. To create a subtle effect, be sure to zoom in before nudging.

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
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mD at ACIDplanet

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: Jay Gladwell

Date:3/17/2005 1:13:30 PM

Cool, it worked! Thanks guys!

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/17/2005 1:14:48 PM

Another couple ideas: you might want to EQ each slightly differently, roll some top off one, some bottom off the other...I wouldn't do anything to drastic here as it eventually won't sound like a saxophone.

An effect like Ohmforce Hematohm could help here as well, there's a humanizer preset that introduces subtle changes a track's timing and volume to give a more human feel. Adding this to one of the copies of the track will make it sound slightly different from the original.

Another option is a doubler effect (waves has a great one, but good luck affording it). It's a plug-in you can just insert onto a track, and then you can designate how many copies of the voice to generate (1 to 3 usually)...these plug-ins will usually also allow you to pitch, pan, and/or delay the copies, so you can create the fifth and octave intervals JohnnyRoy mentioned and the offsets Iacobus suggested.

Finally, you can just go into the event as pasted on the event window, zoom in, and use the the split (S) command before each transient (where the volume rises sharply at the beginning of a sound). Now you have basically each enunciated note as a separate event, and you can nudge each one a wee bit left or right to create the natural sounding variations you're looking for. Once you've got a part modified the way you like, select all the chopped parts as a whole, and paste as needed as if it were one big event. It's time consuming, but might provide the results you're looking for.

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:3/17/2005 3:17:04 PM

> Now you have basically each enunciated note as a separate event, and you can nudge each one a wee bit left or right to create the natural sounding variations you're looking for.

Good one! That reminds me. You can do this same thing a lot quicker using a Groove. Right-click on the header of one of the sax tracks and select Add to Groove Pool. Then find that goorve in the pool and shift the beats around a bit and apply that to the second sax. They will now play with a slightly different feel.

~jr

Subject:RE: Multiplying Instrument Sounds--How?

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/18/2005 7:09:26 AM

yeah, forgot about groove clips, that's a good bit less tedious than my suggestion, and a lot more flexible...I like it.