Long sweeping sound effects, resonance/cut-off

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Level 1

5 points

Long sweeping sound effects, resonance/cut-off

Hi all,

I've been using Garageband for a few months and LOVING IT! I've done a handful of tracks, but I've got a few questions--I've looked everywhere for the answers but can't find them, so maybe someone here will know? (Note: I'm still a relative newbie so may have got some terminology wrong, so apologies in advance if that's the case).

I'm mainly interested in dance/trance tracks, and many of these have long, sweeping sound effects (very "expansive" sounds) taking you into the breakdown. Though it sounds like they increase in pitch, I think it's actually a frequency change (like the automatic filter effect).

I've tried used the automatic filter on a strings-like software instrument, but I can't seem to get the results I want. I think these sound effects actually use a resonance/cut-off filter, but I can't find a way to do this in garageband. I might be wrong there.

Also, I heard that you can start off with white noise and create these effects from there (a bit like a wind-like sound effect).

So question one is:-

1. How do you create these sorts of sound effects? Is it a case of using the automatic filter, exporting the region and then playing about with the speed/tempo or something in Audacity?

Another thing often used in trance tracks is the resonance/cut-off filter, so my remaining questions are:-

2. Where's the resonance/cut-off filter in garageband? For some instruments (mainly from JamPack2) it's the MOD wheel on the keyboard, but not all. Can you set up garageband to force it to use the MOD wheel for resonance/cut-off for any software instrument you want? (I have an M-Audio Evolution controller btw).

3. Where is controller information displayed in Garageband (ie. so you can see where you've used the pitchbend or the mod wheel).

4. How do you record using the controller wheels? Is it a case of playing the tune you want with one hand, and moving the wheel with the other? Or can you use both hands to play the loop, and then go back and impose pitchbend or resonance/cut-off filter afterwards?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Posted on Oct 7, 2005 2:10 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 7, 2005 6:12 AM in response to Neil Pullen

Try this:

- Choose one of the synths as a starting point - synth basics, synth leads or synth pads.

- In the track information window, when you click on the little triangle next to "Details ...", you get a lot of extra filters and effects that you can use.

- The stuff you are looking for is right next to the "Generator" option - e.g., for "Analog Pad" there are a couple of presets like "Chill Pad", "Phasing HiPaPad" etc. Try them, there might be some things that you like.

- If you click the little pen symbol, you get a window to manually set the parameters - there you are with things like modulation, resonance and cutoff, probably the stuff you were looking for.

- Additionally, you might try extra effects like Chorus, Flanger and Tremolo that give you options to modify the sound over time and have pan effects. Mind that there is also the little pen symbol to tune every effect manually.

Combining all of these options, GB gives you a virtually unlimited possibility to create very spacy sounds!

As to your other questions: Controls for pitch and modulation can be recorded "live" (if the pitchwheel is assigned to this effect) or adjusted later with a curve. Go to the editing window of a region, it displays the notes by default, but in the second column from the left you can choose to display things like pitchbend, modulation and sustain, and manually draw the curves.

What I don't know: How to assign which parameter is influenced by the keyboards pitchwheel.

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Answer 2

Neil Pullen Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 7, 2005 6:22 AM in response to Christoph Drösser

Thanks very much Christoph, I'll try all of your suggestions!

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Answer 3

Neil Pullen Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 7, 2005 12:31 PM in response to Neil Pullen

Right, after a couple of experimenting hours I can now answer all my original questions, which I'll post here in case anyone else has similar problems.

1. Make some white noise in Audacity, and play around with phasers, wah wahs and the like. For longer sweeps, alter speed/tempo. You can also import into garageband and use the automatic filter, phasers, etc. to make some great effects.

2. For REAL instruments, open a new garageband project and drag in the loop. Play about with the automatic filter until you get the effect you want (I use it for "fading out" drums, for example). Export to itunes, convert to aiff and drag the file into the original composition at the required place.

For SOFTWARE instruments, it's a bit long winded. First, select the software instrument you're using and get its information. Make a note of everything (the synth generator, its parameters and all the effect parameters--you'll need a pen, lol!) Change instrument to one that you know has a resonance filter, let's say Lucid Swirl for argument's sake. Finally, open up the Lucid Swirl details and change them all to the ones you've written down. You may have to play about with the Cut-Off or Cut-Off Envelope, but by and large this works and you can now use the modulation as a resonance filter on that instrument.

3. Already answered.

4. Already answered.

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Answer 4

Schneb

Level 5

4,949 points

Oct 7, 2005 3:33 PM in response to Neil Pullen

Sounds like you are going to be right at home with the inner workings of GarageBand. Thanks for the followup posts for others to glean. Check back often to help others, you obviously know your way around audio and effects.

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Answer 5

Neil Pullen Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 8, 2005 6:37 AM in response to Schneb

Thanks, I'll certainly help out if I can but I'm still quite a newbie!

And bad news--after further experimentation, the setting up of the mod wheel as a resonance filter hasn't quite worked. I tried it on an instrument generated by the Analog Mono synth, but no luck. It seems that modulation is tied in to the synth that's used to generate the instrument. I think I'll mail Apple and see if they have any tips on how to do it.

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Answer 6

Schneb

Level 5

4,949 points

Oct 10, 2005 10:34 AM in response to Neil Pullen

You might be better off contacting M-Audio. You will get a quicker answer and they are the ones who would create the software to accomplish this with GarageBand.

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