/ Audio/ MC-505 Tips/ Pattern Tips |
BREAKING DOWN A BASS PATCH [Dan F.]
Actually klown, you reminded me of a wicked way to get an awesome little breakdown with a bass patch.
Take yer bass (with tempo'd LFO's) and select only one of the tones which make up this patch. NOW fiddle with yer filters; slowly bringing up the *range* of your LFO controlled filter for that particular tone. The remaining tones will keep the bass sound fairly stable and prevent woofers from popping all over the shop if you get carried away with the resonance.
If a gritty 8-bit Lo-Fi is flicked on now & again, the bass should sound out of control - just in time for the next tip of the week...
...when you've messed around with your current pattern and thouroughly screwed up your sounds; quickly move the dial to another pattern and THEN BACK to your currently playing pattern. Hit the [Play] button so that the green light is *flashing*. When the next loop begins - all of your currently playing tracks will continue, but revert back to thier originally recorded state.
TIP TO ADD MORE AUDIO MOVEMENT WITH SMALL KNOB MOVEMENTS [{mr}klown]
Patch Mod: This is a good trick if you are using a standard patch without much filtering, sweeping sounds going on, especially on a bassline. Record you pattern normally, notice how the line feels a little stagnant, there's not enough fluid motion to it. If you record slight knob twist movements though, it creates motion, excitement.
Twist between one or two lines on the beat, moving back and forth between the beats. This will create a slight sound movement, which is barely noticable, but creates a smooth morph sound which in fill in perfectly with the beats without disturbing the actual patchs sound. This subliminal motion seems to fill the entire song with more energy. As stated, this works best on bass lines(for it is the bass that generally gives people the feel and energy), but works well on all parts, even select parts of the drums.
TRANCE "HEARTBEAT" DRUMS [Loren]
Creating the rolling "Trance Heartbeat" :
I use the EFX-500 to create this effect, but you can likely come up with an approximation on the 505 alone using a combination of delay and EQ EFX....
Anyway, try this... load up the drums from "Epic Trance 1" and modify the BD a little to make it really boom.. Give it some res, but not too much... the put it on shuffle and turn the shuffle all the way up..
Now, on the EFX, set it about 2 or 3 tempo-steps SLOWER than the actual tempo (this is key), and select only the low frequency band (again very important)... now turn the effect depth about 2/3 of the way up and the effect level about halfway up. Set the delay step to either 1/1 or 4/1, crank up the low end, and slowly turn that shuffle knob.
You will begin to hear a VERY familiar effect... as the slightly short bass delay keeps hitting, and the shuffle changes ever so slightly, it creates "rolling" echoes, and "rushes" up to the BD, making it sound like a heartbeat.
You hear this effect in LOTS of "Hardfloor" trance. Everyone is rocking to the beat going "oh yeeeeeeeah".
FLAMMING [drK]
[Also contains some PATCH tips]
Not sure what is the actual cause of the flam in real life as far as the drummers action (two sticks at once?) but the term "Flam" generally means two musical events close enough together to be indistinguishable as separate events. Rather they combine into one event with a different sound. What is important is to get the timing between the events down in the few millisecond range. One way to experiment with this, and indeed to even implement it is to use the short delay setting with no feedback. Adjust the delay time until you hear a flamming effect that you like.
In my experience with MIDI percussion all that is necessary for a good flam effect is to send two consecutive NOTE-ON messages back to back as fast as the MIDI channel can handle it. Typically this gives timing greater then 1 msec but it will usually vary from synth to synth and indeed from event to event because of imperfections in the actual synth timing. This is good news in this case as it gives a lively type of FLAM effect. I believe that the '505 is in this category.
BTW to do this you MUST have the part in polyphonic mode. A mono part will not flame. rather it will abruptly cutoff the first note as it sounds the second. A different effect but not the one you may be looking for. I can't recall how the R-part response to this so some experimenting may be needed unless someone else has experienced this.
As far as programming it try using microscope mode and just record the two notes on top of one another. If you try using one "tick" between them the timing is too long in my experience - about 5 msec at 120BPM. This also points out the other problem in that the flam programmed this way tracks tempo, which is undesirable. I think practically speaking you would need your tempo running at over 200 BPM before one tick is short enough. Try it and if it works then you can always program your patterns pretending the tempo is referencing 8th notes and half everything down back into more reasonable tempos.
Another approach is to use one of the seven "normal" parts and create a special "flam" patch. This uses two (or more) tones with identical patch settings. make each one the percussive sound you wish to flam, say a snare. The trick then is to create both a normal and flammed version of this patch which can be switched in real time. two ways (at least) to do this. One is to define three regions of the keyboard (no pitch tracking BTW) one with tone one only, a middle with both, and the other end with tone 2 only. For non flammed you program notes in the end regions. For flams you program notes in the overlap region. A second way is to use a velocity switch to turn on the second tone with velocities above (or below) certain values.
Within the patch itself you may wish to designate say tone 2 as the flam tone. You can control the degree of flamming by setting a bit of an envelope delay on this tone. The first time/value segment of the '505's envelopes can be set so that the time is the delay if the value stays at zero. By setting this time value you control flam. I am guessing that this will work but it might have limited control range if the time values are too coarse.
Other fun things to do is to vary the pan position. This can produce some spatial flams as well. particularly interesting when this whole trick is done with four tones. And why not! They are there, might as well use them.
REALM'S PATTERN CREATION TIP [rEalm]
Usually when I create a pattern, I leave all of the EFX, reverb and delay settings until the very end. Once in awhile when you're in a rut, it becomes beneficial to look at writing in a new way though. Try randomly setting all of your reverb, delay, and EFX settings first. Before you even go through and pick any of your patches or anything, just select some parts and set the part levels for those settings ahead of time. That way as you're scrolling through the patches looking for that right sound, you can play off of the effects, possibly creating something that would be different from what you're normally used to. This works really cool with delays and the Slicer/Step Flanger effects.
EFFECTS [Ras]
ENHANCER, 4EQ, SPACE-D all these can boost low and high to give more punch to the bass and more tcsh tcsh tcsh to the HH and can also be used in the parts of the pattern to boost a particular part. Using these FX you can turn EFX on and off for each part which has the effect (almost) of megamixing between two similar patterns, one with slightly fuller/richer/louder sounds which can allow you to make one pattern have more variance.
If you spend the right amount of time on your sounds you may find you are mostly OK using just Reverb and Delay, and then unless using a specific effect like Slicer or Lo-FI that is integral to the sound you're looking for the 'spare' FX can be used with one of these simple 'booster' effects to great effect........ You can get a great effect if you have the ENHANCER on the R part by using the FX dial to change the value of the High Boost it allows the HH's to sway up and down and all around.....
APHEX STYLE EFX [Steve]
"Aphex EFX" - I found a simple pattern that leaves some nice room for user experimentation. Sure, you can twiddle away on any pattern, but many of them seem so rushed and pushy whereas P094 Ambient Techno 2 leaves things rather wide open. I like to apply lots of STG2 reverb to the R part of this. I think it makes the drums sound like early Aphex Twin. Note that part 7 of this pattern isn't really doing anything. I set this to patch B028, Stargate MC and add reverb and some portamento. With the D Beam on ad lib, you can make whale sounds over the Ambient Techno pattern. If you apply lots of DIST to the Stargate MC patch along with the reverb and portamento, using the D Beam, you can get some really anguished moans and screeches reminiscent of Hendrix feedback or Jimmy Page's theramin. You can mute and unmute various parts during all of this and also set to RPS using keypad 1 to drop in a different rhythm when you are ready.
ANIG TALKS ABOUT THEMES [Anig B.]
Douglas R. Kraul wrote..
> little personal experience in setting a groove for a crowd, though I know
what I like.
That is what is most important - knowing what you like.
> (I am more of a sound designer then groove-miester)
Rhythm is the key to making your music kick ass. I found the most useful thing in the 505 sequencer to be the realtime step record - I love programming a drum grid in realtime. Start with the real basic - 4 kick beats or whatever. Now add another element. But move one or two of the beats off the time by a 16th. Sweep you finger along the chiclets for semi-random patterns - good on cymbals and light percussion.
Next, get comfortable with bass. Make your fattest patches and combine them with simple rhythmic structures - simply playing a bass note on the offbeat sounds good. Deal with the bass more as a percussive instrument for a while - so many good tracks have a big sub-bass giving energy to dancers legs. Try recording the bass as your first percussive instrument and fitting the other instruments around it.
For melody, record the presets into a sequencer and look at them being 'played' on a virtual keyboard if your computer can display this. See what makes the patterns which you like work. Noodle a lot on the keyboard - it's good if you have a regular piano-style thing too. Go back to old patterns and replace a weak line with a new melodic bar. After a while you write your first proper melody. You kind of know when you've done it :)
> far, so good. I am "stuck" now trying to figure out how to add
proper
> tension/release using a very rhythmic track but so far my attempts at this
are
> less then satisfactory (never played the drums as a kid). But if I can't
get
> it I'm sure there are loops and such that I can grab and mangle.
You need...a THEME! Yes, the THEME is a device every musician should have available. With a THEME you can do what you *really* want to do, which is of course turn knobs and make interesting noises fall out of the speakers. Any time you think that the audience may be getting confused, simply pull out your THEME to remind them what they are dancing to. They will often laugh and say things like 'Wow' or 'Cool' because they think you had planned it all along.
The all-purpose THEME is totally adaptable to your needs. You can stretch it out and bend it in strange ways to astonish people. You can show it to the audience a bit at a time before letting them hear the whole thing. Very often they will be surprised to find out they were hearing a THEME. You can use the THEME over and over again within a single track and the audience will keep liking it.
By alternately showing and hiding the THEME you are using it to entertain the audience. While the theme is hidden you can really raise the tension - by tweaking the sound to extremes - because after a while everyone will be wondering what it is gong to change into. when you show your THEME again (perhaps using a new instrument or one that was totally abstract until now) they will all be surprised and will continue to utter phrases like 'Oh yeah'.
You can also tweak your THEME to wild extremes and have them wondering when it's going to change into something else. This is a good time to put it away and impress them with that bizarre new sound you thought up in the checkout line. A good THEME will be easily recognisable and remembered. It will help if people can hum it or otherwise remind themselves of it afterwards, since this often makes them want to hear it again. It should be long enough to stand alone but short enough that people won't forget the last few notes or tweaks. Get yours now! Not available in shops.
MIDI EFFECTS [drK]
The FX is geared towards being used as an insert effect which explains Roland's thinking of on/off only. I do agree that having a mode where you use it more like an effect send would be better (Yamaha does this on their QY700).
[Note: the 505 actually DOES have an EFX send amount feature. However, it is only accessible by SYSEX commands and not the EFX slider]
Somewhere recently I remember seeing a post about William Orbit and his use of effects on his tracks. What was remarked is that he usually programs his effects via the actual synth. While it is not easy nor as instantly gratifying this is a neglected area of sound design and gets one around the limitations of the built in effects. Some ideas...
I'm sure that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Try it! Getting a track to stand alone is a good idea before resorting to using effects!
COOL PATTERN [Jimmy M.]
Here is a cool thing to do:
QUICK SELECT OF TMP PATTERN [Wolfe B.]
You can press the PRESET and USER buttons together (in the "bank" section) and the 505 will immediately go to the TMP pattern.
RAS' PATTERN CREATION TIP [Ras]
Normally when I program a pattern I'll start with something that I can loop. Normally this is 4 or eight measures. I sometimes place a simple beat (BD + HH only) as a guide. I then add other parts the same length as the current pattern. I will always try and do the R before I add parts that increase the patterns length beyond this. As it is easier to work with a 4 or 8 measure R pattern than with a 32. (if I do leave it until it's 32 I just program R for the first 4 measures and do a copy to fill all 32)
My R hint is to make your own R Kit. On parts that you don't use regularly, like Other, program some BD or SN and you can program Harder BD or SN rolls/builds that go across 16/32 bars and always end just at the end of the pattern - just where you want them. If your 'Pattern' is really 2 or 3 patterns that you can progress thru and mix between then the R part on each can have different drum builds on each to switch between and accent whatever R you are using. etc.
TIME SIGNATURES [drK]
Time signatures are mostly a notational convention. The MC, as well as many sequencers break things into bar/beat based on this but if you stop and think about it that is only a way of sorting out how to interpret the clocks that the machine runs on.
[in performance music time signatures traditionally have also implied placement of accents, i.e. the down beat being emphasized but that even goes out the door depending on style (rock's on 2 and 4, jazz is syncopated...)]
It is true that you can't mix time signatures on the MC505 within a pattern (a neat feature for sure that the RM1x does support) but by understanding the relationship between event clocks one can do some pretty mean polyrhythms. I've written on this before so I will only summarize:
1) a part consists of 96 clock positions * number of qtr notes in a measure (based on time sig) * number of measures. So 4 measures of 4/4 time has 4*4*96 = 1536 clocks.
2) each part can choose to interpret these clocks as deemed fit subject to the implied tempo. For instance in the above example I could call each 96 clocks an 8th note but that would also imply that the part is running at half tempo.
3) armed with this you can fit things like 7/4 time with 6/8 with both working at the same, common tempo. It takes figuring out the math and finding things like common multiples and then setting the pattern length so that one complete cycle fits in. It takes some work but can be done.
4) alternatively look at using RPS as they loop independently and this eases the calculation side a bit. You still have to figure out what role a clock unit plays but you aren't restricted to having to make the pattern lengths work out.
5) probably its just easier to draw a grid out and then look at how to make the patterns you want and then program the tracks accordingly. Doing "sliding" parts is really easy when you look at it this way. Again the measure length can be a problem but you also have some time signatures to help things out.
This is all pretty esoteric but it is also pretty cool stuff. My own favorites are using drifting parts but using non percussive sounds (or at least less percussive and more melodic). Musical tapestries result. If you have the luxury of two (or more) sequencing things give this a try the easy way by setting short patterns on each off with differing lengths and accent placements.
FATBOY SLIM STUTTER THING TALK & STUTTERING TUTORIAL [a.j.]
Another thing -- regarding the 'Fatboy Slim' stutter thing that I've seen mentioned a few times: I posted a message about a week or so ago in which I mentioned using a similar technique with the SU10. The looping of the SU10 was set to a range of 80 - 160BPM. Whenever a sample was set to loop in 'Edit' mode, it's BPM would be displayed somewhere in this range. You could then increase the tempo by adjusting the sample endpoint. For example, if the original BPM was 95BPM, you could increase the tempo 'upwards' by moving the endpoint 'downwards' (or narrowing the loop). The 95BPM loop could then be increased up to 160BPM. At 160BPM, the loop counter would then reset to 80BPM. You could then continue upwards in this second BPM cycle until you arrived at 95BPM (cycle 2). As you may have guessed by now, 95BPM (cycle 2) would give you a loop 1/2 the size of the original 95BPM sample. 95BPM (cycle 3) would therefore give you a loop 1/4 the size of the original loop, and so on.
The Fatboy Slim stutter thing could then be performed on a sample by copying it to an empty pad and editing the sample copy's BPM to a 'cycle 4' value (for 1/8 of the original loop). You could then assign both samples to the same 'alt-group', allowing a 'note-on' message from one sample to stop the other sample's playback (I think I've got this right). So the stutter effect could be recorded/sequenced by playing the cycle 4 sample and then pressing the pad for the original sample with the complete vocal phrase. That way, a vocal phrase like 'Hit it!' could be recorded/sequenced as 'Hi- Hi- Hi- Hi- Hit it!'.
This technique works well on sequenced music, too -- allowing you to 'bounce'
into the beginning of a song or a chorus. Select 'copy', 'all tracks' from your
sequencer's menu. Let's say your time signature is 4/4. Your beat counter should
read something like 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and then 2:1 (for the start of the second
beat). If you have already sequenced the song (minus an intro), select
'copy', 'all tracks' from your sequencer's edit menu. Set the copy time for
1:1 to 1:2. Paste this chunk (for all tracks, remember) to time position 1:2.
Then copy the first HALF of 1:1 to 1:2 FOR ALL TRACKS to 1:3 and repeat (so
that the first half of 1:1 to 1:2 is pasted twice between 1:3 and 1:4). For
sequencers with a resolution of 480, this operation is equivalent to copying
1:1 to 1:1:240 (for all tracks) and then pasting the material to 1:3 and 1:3:240
respectively. To 'bounce' into a chorus, replace the last beat of the verse
leading into the chorus with a stuttered beat like the one just described. This
technique works really well for hip-hop (but can be really refreshing for rock
tracks as well).
DIETER REMIXES AN ABSTRACT PATTERN [Dieter]
Here's my quick drum&bass remix of pattern 159 (Abstract 8):
First make the following settings:
Press Play
Press on chicklet 2 and hold it
Unmute and mute the R-part to put accent on some breaks
Play with cutoff on part 2
EXPERIMENT WITH CHANGING SOUNDS ON THE R TRACK [nico aka MicroAtoll]
maybe a tip from me today : you're right, mista rEalm, it isn't always a bad thing. What i experiment very often is to record a drum part in my external sequencer (PC/cakewalk... but don't start a war :) and i play it with different sounds.
Example : record a (so called) drum'n bass preset R-part, and play it with a 64-voice-piano on another channel... sounds like a psycho-serial-groover, and you can also duplicate the midi track back on channel 10 and play it with... drums... It works fine with very percussive patterns (latin percussions, jungle...) and short attack sounds (piano, TB, ...). BTW, don't forget to tweak.
(I like to do that on a computer based sequencer because it's easier to split, cut'n paste...)
DRUM NOTATION STANDARD PROPOSAL [?]
(Kick) 7---6---6---6-5- (Snare) ----4-------7--- (ClHihat) 3-5-3-5-3-533--5
DIRTY BREAKS [?]
Last very basic sort of tip- if you want to make a really shitty dirty sounding break beat, porgram a beat, try and make it fonky... maybe not quantizing all of it... and make sure it's got some cymbals + hats..a crash at the beginning and some rides throughout work well. Then put it through the compressor effect and compress the fuck out of it. It sounds cool! This emulates the recording techniques used back in the day when they apparently didn't have level meters. :)
[discreet added]: Anyway, i put the resonance to about 12 o'clock , and set the delay type to short. Then, full delay to the drums (not from the part mixer section, but from the efx=>delay level knob. that means you HAVE to have the compressor effect on the drums). Now, when the delay is in about 8 o'clock to 11 o'clock , you get a really flanger/phaser typish sound. When it goes over that, it sounds like a reverb, and when it goes over that , well... it sounds like shit :) But basically, when you twist the delay time knob WITH the cutoff knob, you get some nice rebirth-drums-thru-the-pcf sounds.
LOW PASS CUTOFF [rEalm being sarcastic as I recall?]
If you turn the filter cutoff knob clockwise while it's in lowpass mode, you get this cool sound. If the res. is turned up a bit, it helps too. It sounds like the sound is rising, I would even go so far as to say it gets brighter! If you turn it the other way while the res. is up, it makes this cool squelching sound. Just passing on something new I learned.
GETTING AROUND THAT 8 PART LIMIT [J]
MORE GETTING AROUND THAT 8 PART LIMIT [?]
X---X---X---X--- Bassdrum --X---X---X---X- Solidbass
GETTING AROUND THAT RHYTHM KIT LIMIT [?]
Record more Kicks on top of Congas, etc. Just remember you have to mute the Congas!
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