What makes a sound
Describe any sound by its pitch, loudness, timbre and envelope, and reshape your kick and snare into soft, round night-time drums.
Four things every sound has
Pitch is how high or low it is. Loudness is how strong it is. Timbre is everything else: the reason a piano and a flute playing the same note, equally loud, still sound different. The fourth is the envelope: the sound's shape in time.
The envelope
ADSR: attack (how fast it starts), decay (how fast it falls), sustain (the level it holds while you hold the key) and release (how long it fades after). A, D and R are times; S is a level. Drums are almost all attack and decay.
Words for sounds
Producers describe timbre in everyday words: round, soft, dusty, glassy, bright, dark. Naming what you want, like "a soft, round kick", makes it much easier to find with the knobs.
Your kit, one sound at a time
Stock drum sounds are built to punch. This unit reshapes B01 for the night, one sound at a time, starting here with a soft, round kick and snare.
Lesson 5
- What makes a sound.
- In this lesson you will describe any sound by its pitch, loudness, timbre and envelope, and reshape your kick and snare into soft, round night-time drums.
Every sound has four sides
Pitch (high or low), loudness, timbre (its colour) and an envelope (its shape in time). Two sounds can share three of them and still feel completely different because of the fourth.
An envelope is a sound's shape in time.
Attack: how fast it rises. Decay: how fast it falls to the sustain level. Sustain: the level held while you hold the key. Release: the fade after you let go.
A pad has a slow attack and long release. A drum is an instant attack and a decay.
On the Model:Cycles every sound starts at full level at once and then decays, and DECAY sets how long. GATE adds a hold: the sound stays at full level while the pad is held, or for the trig's length, before it decays.
Three knobs decide if a kick punches or rolls.
SWEEP sets how far and how fast its pitch drops. CONTOUR adds a burst at the start that you hear as a click. DECAY sets how long it rings.
- Go to B01 (hold PATTERN, press T2, press 1) and press PLAY.
- Select the kick (hold TRACK, press T1) and tap T1 a few times.
- Describe the stock kick in two words.
Stock kicks are usually punchy and clicky: good in a club, loud for night music.
Make it round
- Turn SWEEP down until the pitch barely drops, and CONTOUR down until the click softens.
- Turn COLOR and SHAPE down too, for less modulation and a purer tone.
A soft thump, closer to a low hum than a laser.
Tune and lengthen it
- Hold FUNC and turn PITCH down 2 or 3 semitones.
- Turn DECAY up until each kick rings a little but stops before the kick on 11.
- Went too far?
- Press BACK within about three seconds to undo.
Deeper and rounder, with a short soft tail.
Hear a sustain
- Press GATE so it lights.
- Then press and hold T1 for a second before letting go.
- Try short and long holds.
- Press GATE again to switch it off.
With GATE on, the kick holds at full level while you hold the pad, then decays when you let go.
Hear loudness against timbre
- Turn VOLUME + DIST up from 60 towards 90.
- Then back to 60.
- Above 60 it gets louder and starts to distort.
First just louder, then rougher. Distortion adds harmonics, which changes the timbre too.
Soften the snare
- Select T2.
- Turn SHAPE down to soften its noise and COLOR down for a more tonal body.
- Hold FUNC and turn PITCH down 2 semitones.
- Set DECAY so it sounds like a soft brush, not a crack.
A woody, muted snare. Your ghost note on 12 softens with it.
- Write two words for your new kick and two for your snare (round, soft, woody, dull…).
- Then save: hold FUNC and long-press SETTINGS.
Same beat as lesson 4, but it now sounds like late at night.
You turned SWEEP down on the kick. What did that change?
Answer
On the KICK machine, SWEEP sets the depth and time of the pitch sweep. A big, fast drop sounds punchy; a small one sounds round. DECAY is the knob for how long it rings.
Shape the envelope first (DECAY, GATE), then the colour (the four macros).
This lesson's challenge
Pick a sound from a track you love and describe it in four words: one each for its pitch, loudness, timbre and envelope. Try to get T1 or T2 close to it.