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Trance Forum ť ť Forum Production & Music Making - rythm question!

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rythm question!

go@lex
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics : 40
Posts : 118
Posted : Jan 11, 2005 12:21

hello all, i want to give more punch and heavy to the rythm-loops in my tracks, what is the better thing: eq, compress, reverb???
thanks!

Kaz
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 90
Posts : 2268
Posted : Jan 11, 2005 14:55

These (EQ, Compressor, Reverb) are not mutually exclusive - the first step to making a heavy sounding drumloop would be picking heavy sounding samples. When making the sequence, first add the sounds that will be playing with your kick. Now to the EQ: do NOT cut the 250-1000Hz range (this is where the 'heaviness' comes from), change it's volume a little (until it fits). You can apply a highpass at 250Hz so it won't clash with the bassdrum/bassline of the track (it will make it sound thinner when you solo it, but once your kick and bass are running with it then you will only notice that your sound is cleaner now). In an ideal solution you won't need to EQ at all because the samples are perfect, but this is not very likely.

Now change the volume of the samples until your kick+bass+percussion give you the highest peak volume. If the volume is increased by more than 2db over the kick+bass alone, then either your volume or EQ on the percussion probably has a mistake in it. Fiddle around with this a bit until it fits.

After you do that, the rest of the sequence you can do whatever you want to more or less. As long as you feel it sounds good, continue doing it.

Now you have your sequence at the right volume and EQ. At this moment, you can either apply a noise gate to make things feel more in place and give a cleaner sound or not, it's really up to you. If you control the length of the samples well enough than this stage won't help you much. If you want the sound to me a bit oomphier, apply a compressor now, BUT DO SO WITH CAUTION. Too extreme a compressor will make the sequence sound less groovy and NOT lower the volume of the loop when it is played with the kick and bass (will only lower the volume of the loop when played solo). I'd recommend using low ratios so the differences in volumes you made in the sequence will still be heard.

Now your sequence is built the way you want it, with decent EQ and dynamics. You can apply a reverb here to make things sound thicker - but in an ideal track mixdown, you should only apply reverbs and delays as sparingly as possible (the moment everything has either a reverb or a delay or both your track will have no natural 'lead' to it). If you're so inclined, allow me to make a few recommendations:

a) No predelay. Your sequence should be exactly in place now, this will probably make your loop sound less sharp without giving enough coolness to it to cover up for that.

b) Short length. A long length can give you too much noise and make the loop less clear.

c) Don't exaggerate with the mix level. Yes, it's easy to go overboard with this, as reverbs can really fatten up the sound - just remember, if you need a high mix for your reverb, your sounds are probably too thin to begin with. This should be used to give a 'slap-in-the-face' edge to the percussion, too high a mix level will keep it in the face but out of the groove. Logic's EnVerb seems to be more or less the ultimate percussion reverb for psytrance (or DnB) sequences.

You can add a delay, but if you manually add low volume sounds in your sequence this will make them indistinct. I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you are absolutely sure this is what you want.

Of course, this is only a recommendation. A drumloop can be passed through flangers, distortions, nothing at all, whatever. If it sounds good then it's all good