-Native Instruments- Massive Q&A

[midiVOL]

i'm gonna go start pressing buttons, then i'll watch ^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS VIDEO^^^^^^^^^^^^^
props to those who know wtf theyre talking about.

i know this is off topic, but is there a drum machine plugin that is free which i can load samples into and then use as a midi track in reaper?

[Artie_Fufkin]

midiVol, check out the reaper Q&A thread or the bedroomproducer blog.

learning how to arrange and and structure tracks, learning how to create good mixdowns, experimenting with different genre's, and what not. I never took the time to learn the technical things about music. That's why I'm not familiar with most terminology and what not. I never focused on that aspect of music before. It started off as merely a hobby, but now that I'm taking it more seriously I have started to try and understand the technical side of it more. Like I said, I spent the first three years just generally messing around and making tunes just for the hell of it.

You lucky bastard
I'm sure I'm not the only one on the forum who is envious of your ability to not get bogged down with technical stuff.
The manual is one of the first places to check. Some manuals are written in laymen's terms and break down the technical jargon. Check the table of contents, index, or glossary and use Ctrl+f to find specific terms.
Youtube and google are other options. Simply searching "What does X do in a synth?" can find you tutorials and articles that will help. If you've looked at something and it didn't make sense, make a new thread. If you show that you've made an effort, I don't think people will bite your head off or think you're trolling. Or feel free to PM me.

[Electric_Head]

i'm gonna go start pressing buttons, then i'll watch ^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS VIDEO^^^^^^^^^^^^^
props to those who know wtf theyre talking about.

i know this is off topic, but is there a drum machine plugin that is free which i can load samples into and then use as a midi track in reaper?

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/01 ... -lindfors/

One of many

[Sky-Fi]

http://www.fast-click.co.nf/

just finished it

It's pretty simple so I'll say it like this:

Dude, you are a fucking boss. Thank you.

Just watched one and it was great, going to watch all of them right now, please do more plugins (Sylenth, Absynth, Nexus, Zeta+, etc). In my opinion you could make a business out of this type of thing. I'll admit I'm fresh into producing, started on new years day and I'm not falling off. I've literally been raping the internet for tutorials, I've downloaded hundreds of books, I have a signed producer who's making me his protege but tutorial wise, I have not seen anything this comprehensive this far. Subscribed and if you need anything else hit me up.

thanks I'll love to do videos and websites like this for other virtual plug-ins if I get enough subscribers

[Mammoth]

So what im trying to accomplish is to set the lfo ratio's to certian buttons on my faderport. If i cant do that can i possibly set the lf0 knob to the pan knob on my fader port! I really really would like to get this done. Im on FL studio 9 thanks!

Plz change accountz asap

[Benedict]

Hey splendid community!!

I'm the worst kind of newbie for asking this, but I wonder if anyone could shed light on Massive > Modulation Osc > Phase ?
I don't know what "phase" means in this context, but phasing the pitch down a bit seems to go a long way for making a normal oscillator sound "robotic"; which I call a "ribbed" sound.

What is this "phase"? It sounds like an FM sound to me (although the Filter FM in the same section doesn't seem to do anything?)
Is there a plug-in or common parameter which can achieve this kind of effect on any old sample?

[mthrfnk]

http://www.massivesynth.com/tutorials/u ... odulation/

[Electric_Head]

The Phase modulation implemented in MASSIVE is sonically equivalent to the familiar frequency modulation or FM synthesis technique. The modulation oscillator acts as the modulator while the main oscillator becomes the carrier. You can use the phase modulation capacities of MASSIVE to create classic bass sounds, for instance. Try modulating the modulation amount with a fast envelope, e.g. to create very high modulation amounts at the beginning that then decay rapidly. This will produce an initial click when the sound is triggered, increasing its rhythmic presence and clarity.

from the manual

[Benedict]

Thanks everyone for your help

[Uncle Ben]

loading some .ksd files wouldnt teach you how to use this program^^

Am I right in presuming you've never taken the time to reverse engineer a synth patch?

Well, I actually haven´t tried that. I learn to use Massive by magazines, and sometimes a simple tray-and-error-method. The idea of reverse engineering a synth pad seems interesting, too. I´ll try that betimes^^

[wub]

Reverse engineering patches is a great way to learn a synth imo. First day I bought Massive I spent the afternoon deconstructing Brutal Electro

[lloydy]

I'd have to agree with wub,it is by far the best way to learn some tricks.Some patches that come with massive are really complex and contain a wealth of knowledge.

[Dustwyrm]

I too am like the OP. I learn well by tutorial and preset dissection. There are a ton online, just search google for massive presets...

It's a pain to install em but they usually come in large sets so it's worth it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=massive ... =firefox-a

[Thekid54]

I haven't been using massive for very long but I would like to figure out how to make good sounding basses. I've seen a few tutorials on making specifics but they never really explain the concept behind what they're doing. I've observed them using Different Oscillators and bringing it up and down an octave. I tried the same technique with other Oscillators, but when I do my basses come out sounding dull and weird.

If anyone knows any tutorials, or lectures on Massive and FM synthesis in general, I would be thankful. If anyone knows the answers to these questions I would be thankful as well.

-Each type of Oscillator wave produces different sounds. Is there a general rule as to which ones sound good together, etc?

-There has been a few times while when experimenting I cut off the high frequencies on a wobble to make headroom for another sound and resulted in an even duller sounding wobble. Is it good practice to have both High and Low frequencies?

-The best way to learn is obviously to just get down and start using Massive and experiment. Where is the best place to start since I'm a beginner?

[neonmansion]

First off you need to drop the whole "rules about which oscillator sounds good / cut high frequencies / forumulas" routine. That stuff doesn't work and even if it did you couldn't possibly rely on rules to make good music.

What you need to do is learn what every knob and button does in massive. I spent a few days just pouring over the manual (same with fm8) and making sure I knew what every thing does. That way if I want to make a sound phatter and wider you know how to go into the "voicing" tab and do that. If I want a waveform to be in formant to make a screechier lead.. you can do that as well.

Know the synth as best as you can, mess around until you have a good concept for a sound and then try to cultivate that sound.

[Thekid54]

You do have a point there. Even though there is general rules for music, breaking rules is what allows for something different, and possible something better. I'll follow your advice and read the Massive Manual. I'll also look into FM8 as well.

[bassinine]

here's the trick, don't try to form the bass in one particular way.

have a bass patch that changes, from having too much high-end and being harsh, to filtering that away, to changing the oscillator's while a long note is playing.

the bass in this arcade fire remix i did is pretty much just a plain reese, with some white noise, and two filters. made the patch in massive in about 10 mins, then just cut it up. simplicity and plenty of automations/modulations are what makes it sound good. oh, and a ton of distortion.

[Peak0ck]

on Massive and FM synthesis in general

Massive uses wavetable synthesis.

[skills4kills]

Okay I had an argument and some confusion with a friend last night and I was hoping someone could shine some light on this topic for us:

Inside massive each of the 3 oscillators has a pitch option spanning from -64 all the way to +64

So if I scrolled my pitch up to 12 on osc1, that would be 12 semitones.

So if I played the new sound I created at a key of C3, would that mean my sound would stretch 12 semitones up the scale from C3?

Is this what the pitch is referencing to? Or am I way off? All these years ive just been doing what sounds good in regards to pitch (-12, -24, 12, ect) not really knowing what the pitch was actually doing. Ive done some research on the web and cant find a good answer to what I am questioning. And now my friend has made it worse so here I am hoping to get some help from fellow producers

[mthrfnk]

Yes the new sound would be 12st higher, so C4.