I am trying to make some drum n bass tracks and I am stuck in finding some good sounds or maybe I just don't know how to tweak them. I started listening to a lot of old school tracks on youtube and I like the simple style and how artist swiitch up their drum style. But my problem is I can't make my vst instruments sound dark,warm and full. I want them to some like those old school dnb tracks in the 90s. I just don't know where to start anymore
I have like two examples here.
The intro is just dark.
This one isnt as dark but its still kinda warm and simple
By the way what sound is that around 1:01; omg look at 4:20
I just dont know how these guys make such warm and dark synths on these records. Are they ripping samples from movies or something? I cant even make my strings sound dark and warm.
This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by marcusg: 19-01-2009 09:45.
ok, so there's somethings to remember, is that when you record something onto a record it will come out sounding better, because it smooths out the sounds.
second the godlike tool that producers use to get good sounds is called EQ, GODLIKE, you cannot over use the eq.
third, they might have sampled it from a movie but that movie made the sample using eq and all that stuff too. just the same as the producer could have just as easily.
also layering multiple sounds is how they do it. the first example you gave at the 1:01 time, there's a light string sampled with a synth playing a scale, and then a 88 kick comes in and it's got a low-pass filter on it.
so basically if you took 10 years of you life doing music you can do this stuff easy.
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so basically if you took 10 years of you life doing music you can do this stuff easy.
Or if you need instant success you can use Songsmith
You only have to choose the style and set the mood and you are there
lol
Fuck this EQing shit, Songsmith is the future.
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another way of getting a phat reece - fart n record - then process - instant winner
but seriously mate, when it comes to creating these sounds i would suggest u get ur head around the basics of sound design, what waveforms to use etc etc, how to process them, theres a lot to know and always best to start with the basics, theres plenty of information available online to get u started
Originally posted by marcusg
Are they ripping samples from movies or something? I cant even make my strings sound dark and warm.
no there not ripping samples from movies...there using analog equipment. Analog equipment produces sound from the literal electronic fluctuations of an oscillating circuit. I personally own a few analog synths including the arp odyssey, moog minimoog, moog little phatty and Roland Juno-106. Check the sound of those out and you will realize the infinite potential of analog. Although digital sound processing which operates on machine code representations or models of an analog circuit has provided us with a whole other realm of sonic capacity its REALLY hard to replicate the sound of a true analog synthesizer or sampler or recording medium (vinyl, tape) which is what ultimately is providing these "early" Drum n Bass tracks and most early good music with its warm, rich and authentic feel. Take for example the album Wormhole by Ed Rush & Optical, you really want to hear a warm and thick sound LISTEN TO THAT, all sampled and recorded on analog equipment in '98.
Man, I didn't know so much stuff is involved in making sound. I don't have much money at the moment to buy much equipment. So for a beginner,such as myself, what do you guys suggest?
If you really have no clue about sound creation and design then it’s really time for you to start experimenting. You’ll never learn as much as you do this way. For tutorials and likewise it’s too early I guess. They’ll give you a nice addition when you get stuck later on in your learning process, the very first steps can be really done by yourself.
I don’t know what DAW you are using to make music, but just take the basic synth you’ve got that may just have 2 or 3 oscillators. Check out the controls, find out what wave form sounds in which way and what’s a cool combination out of two or three. Load up the presets it includes and try to recreate them, even though they sound cheesy and crap. Learning by doing is the way.
If you have a specific question don’t worry to ask on here, just keep it low with the basic ones they may not get answered seriously (as they are pretty annoying).
Adding Warmth to intro atmospheres is easy using a warmer such as the vintage warmer,and it sounds like you want to get a warm dark atmospheric drone type sound,trying using google search and searching for drones,or drone atmospherics and layering the right sounds, I seem to remember battledrone putting up a sample pack of some lovely atmospherics HERE there are some really nice atmospherics and drones in there man,its a start...I might even whack a pack of my own up soon..
Originally posted by marcusg
Man, I didn't know so much stuff is involved in making sound. I don't have much money at the moment to buy much equipment. So for a beginner,such as myself, what do you guys suggest?
3 words.
torrent. vst. voxengo.
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Thank you guys for all of your input. I started messing around with Renoise: music tracker a little bit more got download more vsts and samples. Still didnt find what I want yet. I starting to think that really need some equipment other than software to do what I want to do, or I may lack some knowledge and don't know what I really want. Anyway thanks for the help I will just keep experimenting
naw fuck hardware. all hardware is digital. unless you're buying an ACTUAL AUTHENTIC VINTAGE VOLTAGE SYNTH, it's just another computer with a dedicated proccessor and ram. what you would want is a I/O O/I converter (analog to digital and digital to analog converters). just run it out of the computer and re-record. back on to the computer. there you go, you just went from digital to analog.
wha ti ahve read some of them do, and it makes sense. just run it through a mix board, it converts it to voltage and back. i just use software that emulates analog.
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Originally posted by marcusg
Thank you guys for all of your input. I started messing around with Renoise: music tracker a little bit more got download more vsts and samples. Still didnt find what I want yet. I starting to think that really need some equipment other than software to do what I want to do, or I may lack some knowledge and don't know what I really want. Anyway thanks for the help I will just keep experimenting
Experimenting is just so time consuming lol.
Good advice: don't buy hardware if you are just starting to produce
It won't help you advance any quicker. It takes a lot of dedication to get there, if you give up after a few months you end up wasting some serious cash on stuff you're not using anymore.
Once you start getting somewhere with your skills you can think about investing. If you have a couple of months down your belt, invest in a good DAW, a good sound card and speakers.
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Definitely dont buy any hardware just yet...especially synths. I know everybody has to learn somewhere but take your time to get to grips with synthesis and take full advantage of being able to use some freeware software to enable you to experiment before taking plunge and buying hardware. There's nothing worse than spending a lot of money on a piece of gear that eventually you'll realise isn't what you want
With regard to warmth I agree with deathworm on this, It's hard to really get the warmth and grit you're referring to with software alone. I know there maybe some people on here who disagree, but when you've played on a Juno-6, Minimoog & Yamaha CS-80 and heard the real warmth, power and depth to the sounds that these synths produce you'll find it hard to be able to realise that level in software. Software technology is advancing at a rapid rate and digital emulations of analog circuitry are getting better and better all the time but I don't believe it'll ever be the same. Perhaps though, for most people the crisp, clear sheen that digital provides is perfect for the style of music being created - there seems to be an obsession with creating the most perfectly EQ'd, compressed & polished track to be in accordance with today's high definition era. Virtual analog, high quality samples of acoustic instruments and digital effects plugins allow this to be achieveable for the mere mortal for a very reasonable price and many well know producers of dance music are using software only. I recently watched the Benga tutorial video on Youtube and he uses a combination of Logic 5 for PC, Fruityloops & Albino 2 (probably other software too), but he was and is creating some of the most popular tunes in dubstep and everything is in software.
I think if it's this type of dance music, be it dubstep, drum & bass or whatever, you can realistically, if you're good enough, write professional sounding tracks and be signed to a label and have them released, without purchasing any hardware (aside from a midi controller and soundcard). For me personally analog sounds best when it's a bit more lo-fi, when the recording itself is analog and less polished. Not that an analog recording has to be less polished than a digital one, beacuse in a pro studio it can be, and before the introduction of digital, studios only had analog, but when it has a more raw quality to it and grit that a digitally produced drum & bass track just can never ever have. I'd love to see drum & bass tracks produced and recorded entirely in the analog domain but I just dont think there's may artists out there doing it anymore.
bit crushers, distortions, compression, phasers, flangers, chorus, delays, all this stuff is needed. to be honest it's used subtle in most tracks, not usually 100% of the effect, in the tracks here he probeably used a bit of the flanger or chorus, with the strings, and helped give it warmth, but not enough that we can notice it.
bitcrusher helps make drums brighter, phaser, delay helps thicken up sounds. tonnes of stuff you need to play with, but learn that it's a subtle art.
if you can notice the effect being turned on or off, then that's enough. it's noticeable, even if it's just barely .
also to make it dark, just use a high shelf filter and tone down the high freq, usually starting about 5khz.
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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 20-01-2009 17:45.
Originally posted by marcusg
Are they ripping samples from movies or something? I cant even make my strings sound dark and warm.
no there not ripping samples from movies...there using analog equipment. Analog equipment produces sound from the literal electronic fluctuations of an oscillating circuit. I personally own a few analog synths including the arp odyssey, moog minimoog, moog little phatty and Roland Juno-106. Check the sound of those out and you will realize the infinite potential of analog. Although digital sound processing which operates on machine code representations or models of an analog circuit has provided us with a whole other realm of sonic capacity its REALLY hard to replicate the sound of a true analog synthesizer or sampler or recording medium (vinyl, tape) which is what ultimately is providing these "early" Drum n Bass tracks and most early good music with its warm, rich and authentic feel. Take for example the album Wormhole by Ed Rush & Optical, you really want to hear a warm and thick sound LISTEN TO THAT, all sampled and recorded on analog equipment in '98.
Don't buy hardware if you don't have the money and the skills yet.
Get some freeware VST's and start to experiment A LOT and when you're done, repeat. Only when you stay at it, totally stubborn you'll reach your goal. Don't think that an expensive piece of hardware is going to give you everything you want by the press of a button.
button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 
You only have to choose the style and set the mood and you are there 
