IDK AND YOU CAN TOO

[idkandyoucantoo]

Serum 2 Thoughts

A week ago I took part in a demo contest where I had 20 Serum 2 presets that I could use, and I had to make a one minute long demo. I tied for first, the main issue the judges had (DLR and Genic) was the mixdown needs work (always...), and my second 16-bar section was a bit sparse. I wasn't writing a full track, just playing around, so I was pretty surprised by the win. And what I won was a pack of 200+ presets for Serum 2, put out by Business As Usual.

This leads me to working with Serum 2 more, and going through the various preset packs I already have. Across the board I have noticed no one seems to use the second filter on the main window (labeled OSC), and it is pretty quick to route Filter 1 into Filter 2. I have been making some edits of presets that use Filter 2.

The other thing, one of the OneZero packs I have, I could not figure out why the notes were triggering so early. Well, there is a Clip section on the bottom of OSC, did not realize it was turn on for EVERY patch in this pack, so I'm resaving it with Clip turned off. Granted, that Clip section is worth looking in to, some ideas for bass line patterns probably. It does look like I can save them in a Clip Bank, which could be cool.

Additional edit: so it turns out you can drag a MIDI clip from the Serum 2 Clip module, and you can place the MIDI clip on the arrangement page in the DAW. Really cool for trying out a lot of new bass line patterns.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Phase Plant : Snap Heap

Last year I did a big personal project of going through Phase Plant presets I liked, making note of the FX lanes for any presets I really liked, and trying to recreate the FX processing in Snap Heap. This would allow me to try running other synth or samples through a similar FX chain. Well, today I realized I can just drag modules from Phase Plant's FX lanes in to Snap Heap, and they copy over. This is going to speed up this stage of experimenting.

[idkandyoucantoo]

The Expression tool is something I want to explore in my production. I mainly use XO for solo drum hits, so I have used the tool a little in recent tracks.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Phase Plant Thoughts

How can I reverse the direction an LFO moves in, without the LFO looping? Basically, the signal goes through the LFO curve one time.

Could Phase Plant add an easy feature to reverse LFOs?

Making variations of patches I like, I am finding I can tweak LFO curves differently, change the rate, change if it's positive, negative, or goes a little in each direction.

With the rate, if the LFO looks very complex (lots of movement), changing the rate so it's something like 48/16 slows down the movement and can sound funky. When the LFO looks more curvy and less complex, keeping the rate around 24/16 seems to sound really good.

Actually, even the less complex LFOs that look curvy are worth trying with the 48/16 rate, try moving the phase to listen for interesting changes.

Can also change the phase in the LFO, so it starts at a different point. I'm finding some LFOs sound cool with the phase changed, and then editing the LFO so it doesn't have any "squiggles".

Try an LFO Table, which uses wavetables for the LFO shapes, instead of the LFO modulator. Each LFO Table has multiple table frames.

Is there a way to make a macro toggle on/off different modulators? For example, Macro knob is at 0 so LFO is on, Macro knob is at 100 so LFO is off.

With the current patches I'm messing with, I'm finding interesting variations by mapping a macro to the envelope's attack and delay, so as the sound plays it can go from having a delayed wobble, or no wobble at all.

[idkandyoucantoo]

New idea for racks/chains/FX layers in Bitwig -- make two versions of each rack, one with minimal processing/wet signal at each stage, and one that is just hard & heavy usage. I think if I have some chains laid out with everything dialed down I can then start experimenting with a little bit of processing, be it saturation, distortion, etc. And that might help me understand what is going on throughout the chain, and give me ideas for other chains.

Also, I made some FX Selector containers in Bitwig titled "Pick A ___", so one is tape saturation plug-ins I have, another is distortions, etc.

[idkandyoucantoo]

XLN XO ideas

I liked the idea of XO and bought a license a couple years ago. I have not dug in quite as much as I had hoped. Now I am looking at changing how I do a few things in the studio, and XO fits one of those ideas; sample selection and auditioning.

I have created a folder in my sample library called XO find alts where I will put samples I like from packs, tracks, whatever sounds good, and then use XO and its algorithm to find alternatives. To do that, what I will do is filter out all samples except that XO find alts folder, which will show just a few points in the sample map XO creates. Then click on that sample so it goes on to the Similarity bar on the bottom of XO, and then go through the alternatives. I can also filter by drum type in XO's search engine.

Another thing I am learning about XO function, I can right-click and hold, and then drag to move the map around.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Getting used to Rekordbox, as I want to start DJ'ing shows again, and most venues have Pioneer gear. Quick video of my prep process:

Load the track.

Go to the Grid tab, click the button to set the first beat of a bar to the current position. This is so the track starts on Beat 1.1Bars. If the first beat I want to use is much later in the track, you have to change from Export mode to Performance mode, and then go to the Grid Edit section, there is a button in it to Click to Set 1.1 Bars. I use this if the track's arrangement is a bit different, or there is a long ambient intro.

Once Beat 1.1Bars is set, click on the number 1 on the keyboard to set the first hot cue. I also have "beats to jump" set to 8 bars, and I'll usually set another hot cue at bar 17, and on Drop 1.

One the hot cue click C to set the playbar to that position, and then click M to set a memory cue. I need to look up the different between hot cues and memory cues...

New as of today, I am setting a 16 bar loop at then of the track. Jump the beat to the end of the last bar of beats, then jump back 16 bars, set hot cue H there, change the color from default green to orange, to match the loop region color. Click on the Auto Beat Loop button to set the loop area, and then click M to create a memory cue loop. I'll need to practice on the CDJs turning on that region.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Phase Plant : Snap Heap

Similar to Serum being used as SerumFX, however this is going to take a lot of extra work. Basically go through Phase Plant presets I like, then if they have interesting processing in lanes 1/2/3, recreate those in Snap Heap so I can then try that processing on other sounds and synths. So far I've done four from the DLR Lab Samples preset pack, and running a Massive reece through it to great affect.

[idkandyoucantoo]

While playing a sound in Bitwig, and cycling through Convex presets, I liked how it sounded going from Preset A to Preset B, it created an interesting shift between states. I know I can record the audio output of Track 1 on to Track 2, and saw that Track 1 was then recording automation shifts. The presets use like 50+ parameters, but saw there was a Show All Lanes for the automation, and that could be a way to make the shift work in time with my project maybe. Recording here just to give myself a reminder, and to explore with other plugins too.

[idkandyoucantoo]

DAW overload & drums

I have three DAWs installed:

Bitwig -- this is my main DAW (v5.1), I've been using it since maybe 2017/2018, can't remember exactly. I had it for over a year before I actually gave it a shot, and then immediately found it more fun to use than...

Logic -- this was what I was using in 2002-2004, then picked back up in 2008. I still have it installed (v10.4.8), and there are reasons I hold on to it: - There are a lot of cool synths that are native to it, mainly the stuff added once Apple bought Camel Audio. - AUPitch is great for making risers out of sounds. When it was shown to me, it was explained that the Pitch knob is adjustable by Cents (+/- 2400), and it is a smoother transition than other pitch plug-ins. Most others adjust in semi-tones, and/or in steps, which don't match up with how AUPitch does it. - Logic comes with a lot of sounds, although I haven't really used any in years.

Ableton Live (v10.1.43) -- someone at work gave me a copy of the Standard version, and I was able to update to Suite for a great price. And I wrote a few tracks in it, but then never did a deep dive.

Bitwig I want to dive more in to, I think it could be super super powerful. I probably just do very basic DAW stuff in it, but it is fast for me, and I was able to set up key commands similar to the Logic ones I was used to. I do get tripped up going in to the other two DAWs because I try to move the zoom how I am used to in Bitwig, and neither works the same way.

I am thinking about using Ableton quite a bit more for drum design. Recently learned about the Groove Pool and how to extract grooves from loops, then add to the GP and apply to MIDI drums. The idea in my head is the following:

Create a folder with about 25-ish drum loops that I like the groove of.

Extract the groove from those.

Use XLN XO as a drum sampler, program drums my usual way, but then apply the Groove Pool info to the clips.

I do think I need to commit more time to learning how to process drums in a way that I like the sound of.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Had a Zoom call with Richy Wraith, who is going to master a remix for me. He had some advice on my main kicks & snares, using a clipper and transient shaper. Using StandardCLIP, I have to turn on Ceiling, then on the left I bring down the clip amount to match my track's output. In Bitwig all my tracks are set to -10, so some math is needed. In this case, my kick peaks at about -11, then add 10, and that means on the left Clip slider set it to -1. Just do this a little on those two elements, then another clipper on their group, with just Ceiling turned on and no adjustments to the left Clip, unless the output is below -10.

Also, the other thing is the transient shaper. Since I mainly use Bitwig, he advised doing a layer with the original sample (OG), and then a layer with a transient shaper, which I then blend in, all before the audio hits the clipper.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Another update about my exploring Serum lately. For the Preset Library, you can hold the Shift key and click on multiple locations. This is good, it means you can create hybrids between just a few, or as many preset folders as you want.

[idkandyoucantoo]

An update! So it turns out Serum has key shortcuts for some of the functions in it. If you go to the preset manager, you can highlight a preset and press 9, and it runs the Hybridize Favoring Selected Preset function, so you can cycle through the function really quickly and maybe stumble on to a cool sound.

From what you can see in the screen shot, I have only a few presets from a specific pack, and so the hybrids are all coming from those options. Gives me an idea of creating preset folders with specific presets, and then seeing what can be squeezed out of them.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Another music project is a return to actively DJ’ing music. I strongly prefer Serato, as it is the DJ application that I am most familiar with, and I am in the process of organizing my library on a new laptop. Will then copy the library to my back-up computer, as well as back it up to external and cloud drives.

Aim is to have it well organized for any type of set I might want to play, and have smart groups that populate with year of release (or received, in the case of unreleased music I have or friends give me), and a set that is based on genre (either the genre tag, or the grouping, an example of Drum & Bass as genre, then funky or techy as groupings).

I do have a Pioneer controller to try and learn Rekordbox with, so once the Serato library is set, and I have at least my 2022 and 2023 music set up with cue points and accurate beat grids, then I’m going to look in to conversion applications so I don’t have to totally redouble my efforts.

[idkandyoucantoo]

Squeezing as much as I can out of Serum presets I like. The Hybridze function changes various paramters, as close as I can get to a Massive-style randomize (which is amazing IMO). I also tried using a randomizing FX Grip preset I found for Bitwig, doesn’t do quite what I want, but maybe in tandem with Hybrize it could create interesting results. Going to try that and report back.

[r4ns0m]

I bought XLN XO this past week, while it was on sale. It was kind of a blind purchase, but I had read a lot about it, and heard a few producers I like talk about it. I now think it will be a big part of my work in the future, I’m having fun with it just going through presets and changing tempos, swapping drums, and figuring out what different functions do what.

One thing I have been doing is opening presets that are not my usual tempo, and then changing the BPM to something I work with. This screen shot is from a slower tempo, I switched it to 87 BPM, and now it’s churning out tom drum patterns that remind me of Autonomic era tunes. Another thing I need to get to grips with is the Groove function. Now understand there is global, versus individual drum track, and the individual track ones can be various settings, they don’t all have to follow the same swing algorithm.

[idkandyoucantoo]

And the last one I posted to the wrong tumblr...

[idkandyoucantoo]

Shodan & R4NS0M - HEADSBASS VOLUME 9 - PART 2

Beats In Mind - HBASS009B

Posting this one now :D