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Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:46 pm
by Tiger Blood
Hey guys
So im just starting out and was wondering, with the whole wobble parts on sub bass and lower bass lines (just been listening to when i look at you - emalkay) how is this done?
Is it LFO automation through the synth? As a long of times i cant work on what dial to modulate to get the effect or is it like a pitch thing or something?
Thanks for any help and I am in FL Studio.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:50 pm
by Skrew
A lot of it is LFO or Envelope automating. Some people even do pitch bending with it.
An easy way to start practicing is with Sytrus or 30xsc or whatever it is. Then try Massive, Albino, FM8, Absynth, ect.
I tried starting with Albino 3 but felt retarded. So learned with Sytrus. Now I pretty much make every sound I ever use in Massive.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:52 pm
by Tiger Blood
Skrew wrote:A lot of it is LFO or Envelope automating. Some people even do pitch bending with it.
An easy way to start practicing is with Sytrus or 30xsc or whatever it is. Then try Massive, Albino, FM8, Absynth, ect.
I tried starting with Albino 3 but felt retarded. So learned with Sytrus. Now I pretty much make every sound I ever use in Massive.
I use massive and got some presets from the web to see how it works. But it seems not every synth can be modulated to get the effect so its hard to find something that works. And with subase its just a sine wave so how is that modulated?
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:54 pm
by -[2]DAY_-
a wobble bass is often achieved with LFO modulation. Try assigning it to filter cutoff freq. and/or amplitude.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:54 pm
by -[2]DAY_-
Tiger Blood wrote:subase [sic] its just a sine wave so how is that modulated?
amplitude
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:03 pm
by Tiger Blood
and should either of those two settings with an LFO on them create the effect im talking about?
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:04 pm
by Skrew
AFF.
Typed something kind of long for you to read on how I make my basses but Chrome failed.
Sorry.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:06 pm
by Tiger Blood
Skrew wrote:AFF.
Typed something kind of long for you to read on how I make my basses but Chrome failed.
Sorry.
ha no problem man
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:10 pm
by -[2]DAY_-
Tiger Blood wrote:and should either of those two settings with an LFO on them create the effect im talking about?
yes, for sub: LFO to amp, will wobble
For basses with upper harmonic content (saw waves, for instance): LFO to low-pass filter freq, will wobble.
Remember when we were wishing the "how to make wobbles" threads would return? well, Tiger Blood delivers.
(No disrespect, mate. Good luck)
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:13 pm
by Tiger Blood
-[2]DAY_- wrote:Tiger Blood wrote:and should either of those two settings with an LFO on them create the effect im talking about?
yes, for sub: LFO to amp, will wobble
For basses with upper harmonic content (saw waves, for instance): LFO to low-pass filter freq, will wobble.
Remember when we were wishing the "how to make wobbles" threads would return? well, Tiger Blood delivers.
(No disrespect, mate. Good luck)
ha i was trying to avoid that obvious an approach to it, just i could never work out where to place the LFO, i knew roughly what i was looking to do. Not just i heard a track and wanted to 'make noises like skrillex'
Ill give these bits a try tomorrow, Im guessing then you just map the macro dials on massive to the lfo rate? and then draw automation in FL studio with that macro? Im basing it of the way i used to do it a whole back in ableton.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:18 pm
by Triphosphate
Macros! Macros ftw!
IMO if you're not using macro's to get different sounds out of massive, then you're not using massive right

Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:32 pm
by Mammoth
Modulate dat pitch with the amplitude
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:24 pm
by Tiger Blood
hey guys
just tried some of these things with mixed success.
When you modulate in the daw do you directly modulate the dial that causes the effect or do you assign to a macro dial and automate that? As ive found that on some presets ive downloaded just to learn with, they link a macro to like 3-4 filter and Osc dials for the effect so automating that works better, however im finding it hard to find individual dials that have a big enough effect over the sound to make them sound good if that makes sense. Like I get a preset with no macros and then automate the amplitude and it dosent really do much for the kind of wobble effect on the noise.
Thanks for any other pointers on how you guys go about it, just trying to work this out. but figuring how to automate in fl studio has been a big step!
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:36 pm
by Triphosphate
Well that's because amplitude is not a very major effect in and of itself it's only loudness. You should really research the aspects of synthesis and effects... Your largest changes will most likely come from manipulating things like the cutoff on filters, phase modulation, wet/dry on inserts and fx, even pitch and wavetables.
Ps. A wobble isn't made from amplitude, it's made from the cutoff changing typically on a low pass filter.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:38 pm
by -[2]DAY_-
yeah i'm really unclear on what you mean by Macro. the Macro knobs on Massive are not modulators, they're programmable control knobs. You want to use a modulator (envelope, LFO, stepper, performer)
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:52 pm
by Tiger Blood
Triphosphate wrote:Well that's because amplitude is not a very major effect in and of itself it's only loudness. You should really research the aspects of synthesis and effects... Your largest changes will most likely come from manipulating things like the cutoff on filters, phase modulation, wet/dry on inserts and fx, even pitch and wavetables.
Ps. A wobble isn't made from amplitude, it's made from the cutoff changing typically on a low pass filter.
Thanks and yes i plan to learn to use massive properly but am still getting to grips with FL studio first.
And for the other reply. What i mean is often the presets i see have a macro dial controlling many parameters so i guess in that case they are the ones to draw automation for as they are designed for the biggest sound changes. Where as on some other synths modulation of the parameter directly seems to be the way its done as only 1 dial is used to produce the sound.
Also in regard to sub base as i asked earlier, what is the best route to create the wobble effect there as amplitude just seems to be volume? and anything else on it modifies the wave and ruins the bass if im correct?
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:44 pm
by Triphosphate
Also in regard to sub base as i asked earlier, what is the best route to create the wobble effect there as amplitude just seems to be volume? and anything else on it modifies the wave and ruins the bass if im correct?
Yes that's a very astute observation from someone who just started! A sine wave is your most powerful wave as energy isn't lost in it's transmission nearly as much as a wave with more harmonics. However! A sine wave is not pretty. Or to be better explained: the human brain finds waves with harmonics to be more aesthetic, so it's a fine balance between power and beauty. I usually make a sin-square with like 10% square wave and add a tube on the fx.
And as to automations: it's WAY better to link a macro to a parameter and use automations on the macro, than just on the modulation. I'm pretty experienced with FL, you know about plugin snapshots? Or using tools>last tweaked to assign automations? If you need any help with massive and FL specifics you can always PM me, I'd be glad to help.
Re: Noob Modulation Question
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:55 am
by kid_chameleon
Tiger Blood wrote:
And for the other reply. What i mean is often the presets i see have a macro dial controlling many parameters so i guess in that case they are the ones to draw automation for as they are designed for the biggest sound changes. Where as on some other synths modulation of the parameter directly seems to be the way its done as only 1 dial is used to produce the sound.
The macro controls are just settings on the presets so people know which knobs to turn to get variations on the sound without changing it completely.