Posted on

The Distance Effect: How to make audio sound far away using Reverb

Creating distance in a mix or sound design project often results in the use of a distance effect.  This effect can make anything sound as if it’s 50 ft away, and is quite easy to setup.

1) Insert a pre fader send onto an audio track. Within just about every DAW and/or mixing board there is a setting on the Sends sections called “Pre”.  Within SONAR this setting is enabled when the “Post” button on the send is deactivated.

2) In SONAR, I right-click on the Sends area in the console view and select “New Stereo Bus”.

3) Rename the bus “Distance Effect”. Now my audio is routed to this Bus. It’s often good practice to label your buses, or else mixes become confusing to work with.

4) Insert an instance of Reverb onto that bus. In this example I used BREVERB SONAR and called up a Plate preset.

5) Mute the audio track and hit play.

 

To read more about BREVERB SONAR check out Breverb: A 2013 Sound Design Odyssey on our Knowledge Base.

Try the BREVERB ProChannel Module for free – Download the SONAR X3 Producer Trial

Posted on

How to make your Kick and Snare sound more aggressive using compression

Compression can be used in many different formats but one of the most useful methods is for adding an aggressive sound to your Kick and Snare. A typical compressor’s settings involve Threshold, Attack, Ratio, and Release.

  • Threshold is a setting in decibels. Once it senses that audio surpasses the set decibel level it activates the compressor.

  • Attack is a measurement in milliseconds for how fast the compressor should begin compressing audio that exceeds the set threshold.

  • Ratio is the amount of gain reduction applied to the compressed signal.

  • Release tells the compressor how fast to stop compressing the signal once the threshold is no longer exceeded.

 

By setting the Attack and Release times relatively fast it allows for each drum’s initial hit to sound and then afterwards reduce the audio transient in gain. From our ears’ perspective, each hit sounds more aggressive.

Pictured above: The ProChannel in SONAR X2 Producer.  Try it free!

Posted on

EDM Production: Creating Industrial Drums with Session Drummer 3

SONAR X2 Producer’s versatile drum production tools allow you to get creative with your sound. Want to push the limits of EDM or get that mid-90’s industrial vibe from your tracks? Check out this Quick Tip on how to process your drums utilizing the stock ProChannel effects and Session Drummer’s Tune Parameters.

  • On your Session Drumer track, load PC76 – U-Type Compressor
  • Set Input to 18db
  • Attack 0.5-1.0 ms
  • Fast Release 500 ms
  • Ratio set to Infinite or “All Buttons in Mode”
  • Set Output so that you are not overloading
  • Activate Console Emulator for more saturation
  • Activate the Softube Saturation Knob set this to 2-3 o’clock and set the type of saturation to “Keep Low”
  • Activate Breverb Prochannel. Set the parameters to a rather short Room Reverb

Drums are now over-saturated and over-compressed

Now that you have the basic foundation for a distorted/saturated/pumpy/electronic drum sound lets Mangle it.

  • Activate Write Automation on the Session Drummer Track in the Track View
  • Open the interface for Session Drummer  and go to the Mixer View
  • Activate the Write Automation within the Session Drummer VST Plugin
  • Play the track and move the “Tune” knob (with your mouse or your MIDI controller) for the High Hat in rhythm to create tuning aliasing. This will be labelled “Tune 03” in your automation.
  • Once this is done minimize the interface for Session Drummer  
  • Within the Track Pane using the Edit Filter go to Automation > Session Drummer x64 1 > Tune 01 (Kick Drum Tune Knob)
  • Select the Draw Tool and draw in some nodes that closely match the same curves and structure as the automation we just laid down.
  • Open the Automation Lanes to see the automation data side by side

Deactivate the Write Enable buttons just incase you are no longer going to automate any more parameters

  • As you do this feel free to adjust your compression, saturation, tuning, tempo, and automation to fully customize

Posted on

SONAR X2 makes the grade at USC Thornton School of Music

Professor Chris Sampson, founding director of the Popular Music program at the USC Thornton School of Music, recently wrote an article for the Roland Music Education blog explaining why he prefers to teach with SONAR X2.

“As a professor of songwriting, I teach in both a classroom setting and privately, and a little over a year ago, I incorporated SONAR X2 into my instruction with great results.”

This is a screenshot from an actual private lesson

Professor Sampson cites SONAR X2’s Skylight User Interface, Smart Tool, ProChannel, included virtual instruments, overall workflow, and the sound quality of SONAR’s 64-bit audio engine as powerful enhancements to his teaching process.

“With these assignments, it is very important to me that the tracks sound great and authentic to the style I’m presenting, because the students’ enthusiasm can be seriously eroded if the track does not sound good. This is where the sound quality of SONAR X2’s 64-bit audio engine really shines.”

**********

The professor also gave us ‘extra credit’ for our own commitment to teaching aspiring musicians.

“In addition to the educational benefits of SONAR itself, there’s an abundance of training resources available at SONAR University. The videos there make it easy to understand the concepts behind every phase of the recording process, and the various tips I’ve picked up from The Cakewalk Blog have been invaluable as well. Both are great resources for students to build their own skills independently.”

Read the full article on the Roland Music Education blog.

Or download the SONAR X2 Producer Free Trial and see why SONAR X2 is getting high marks in the classroom and the studio.

 

Posted on

Approaching the Remix With Cakewalk Synths – Norman Matthew [MURDER FM]

PUTTING MY FACE ON YOUR NAME:

Remixing is one of my favorite things to do in the studio for many reasons. For one thing the song has been written, so the pressure of writing a masterpiece is off my shoulders. I’m also able to listen to a song from beginning to end; a completed thought, if you will. I get creatively juiced immediately if I connect to it. That’s where the magical third thing kicks in – I get to put my musical stamp on another artist and pay tribute to their work by recreating their art through my eyes. It’s an opportunity to let the world crawl inside my head (scary as that may be) and hear it the way I do. Continue reading “Approaching the Remix With Cakewalk Synths – Norman Matthew [MURDER FM]”

Posted on

Javier Colon, Winner of NBC The Voice Using SONAR X2 for New Record

It’s been quite a ride in the last 2 years for Javier Colon after being crowned the winner of NBC’s hit TV show The Voice.  Some highlights include releasing the record “Come Through for You” on the Universal/Republic label, gaining millions of new fans, and touring around the world sharing the stage with artists including Maroon 5, Colbie Caillat and Gavin DeGraw to name a few.  It’s rare for an artist like Javier to experience so many facets of the music industry.  He is been signed to two major labels, put out his own successful independent music, and claimed the top spot on one of the biggest television shows of our time.  But what sets him apart from other artists (besides the obvious) in today’s never ending plethora of supposable talent?  I recently got a chance to catch up with Javier in his new SONAR X2 home studio in Connecticut and find out what he’s been up to, and where he’s going. Continue reading “Javier Colon, Winner of NBC The Voice Using SONAR X2 for New Record”

Posted on

Your New ProChannel Effects Have Arrived – Overloud VKFX (Download Free Presets)

Overloud has been more than gracious to welcome their classic Vintage Keyboard FX to the Cakewalk family by releasing them as ProChannel Modules.  With these effects you can customize your ProChannel Presets to include Overloud’s classic Amp, Preamp, Compressor, Overdrive, Delay, Chorus, Phaser, and Wah Effects within SONAR X2 Producer.

EFFECTS

These virtual racks will enhance your tone with a classic analog touch.  Here is only a taste of the kind of effects these rack modules can produce: Continue reading “Your New ProChannel Effects Have Arrived – Overloud VKFX (Download Free Presets)”

Posted on

Approaching Drums Left of Center with AudioSnap and Session Drummer – Norman Matthew [MURDER FM]

So Last “NorMonday” I went on a little (ok a lot) about how I approached tracking guitars, before that we tapped on my signature vocal techniques. Now it’s time to get into the foundation of it all, drums. Again, prepare yourself for some left of self-centered techniques.

THE KICK DRUM SUCKS…NO WORRIES, THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

Seems there’s an app for EVERYthing these days. In the recording world, I like to think of plugins as the “apps.” I’ve been part of approximately 16.25 trillion sessions and not a-one has gone by that I haven’t run into a horrible kick drum sound – clicks, flaps, slaps, flops or just generally sounding like a basketball being dribbled through my mic. The flip-side to these tones of course, is that Gawd-awful weak kick drum that sounds like an egg-beater hitting a pillowcase.

Well I have found a Godsend when it comes to such atrocities….SESSION DRUMMER and AUDIO SNAP!

Drum replacement happens EVERYwhere, ALL the time, so don’t let anyone fool you… the key is knowing how to keep the feel and dynamics alive. I learned a lot about drum replacement from producer Beau Hill (Ratt, Eric Clapton, Alice Cooper, etc.), who took me under his production wing and mentored me on many techniques. In music production, we all strive for the best drum sounds because after all, that is what the rest of the music sits on. Unfortunately, we can’t all afford fancy tracking rooms where the walls move to adjust to the natural reverb. So, many of us at one point or another are slaves to the machine: tracking drums in the jam room, or in mom’s garage next to the washing machine (which is constantly on for some reason). Continue reading “Approaching Drums Left of Center with AudioSnap and Session Drummer – Norman Matthew [MURDER FM]”

Posted on

Recording and Mixing Our Signature Vocal Sound in SONAR X2 – Norman Matthew [MURDER FM]

Hey world, forget your Monday-hate and dive in with me to make the first day of the week a little less sucky and a bit more murderous. Henceforth, it’s NorMonday. So if you find crawling back into the grind a bore, let’s get board–maybe a little chitty-chat about production techniques, tricks, voodoo, esoterica and sleight-of-hand. No blahs here, just blast.

MURDER FM has been blessed with some really nice response to our sound both here at home and the U.K. and the Cakewalk folks were kind enough to ask me to talk a little about the things that go into producing our sound. Hahhh! The real trick’ll be to shut me up, let’s get to it—hopefully it’s helpful.

The nuts, bolts and screams of “We The Evil.”
Coming back from our Sold Out UK Tour, I really wanted to push the envelope with MURDER FM’s new record, so when SONAR X2 arrived, I immediately went to work on using it to shape what would become MURDER FM’s heavier and darker sound.

I recorded the Vocals for “We The Evil” using a Cakewalk UA-101 as my interface into X2. Using a Nady condenser mic, I always track as direct and flat as possible, including no preamps for multiple reasons, 1.) I have the cleanest signal for optimal mix options and preamps will color the signal nicely, which leads to reason number 2.) Cleaner signals force me to have to be a better singer and really develop my character versus letting the effects and preamps shape my tone. It’s a bit more work in the end, but much better for what I am trying to do with my own signature production techniques.

Oh yeah, screamage. There’s a lot of textures in the vocals on “We The Evil”. You don’t “hear” some, but you “feel” them and that’s what I’m going for. It’s a lot more orchestral in the arrangement than one might think when it comes to creating “big dark vocals” that feel huge, but are still intimate. There are some lower octave vocal accents in the verses and lots of doubles and harmonies in the chorus to create that arena sing along vibe. To really make the screams punch, I cranked the SOFTUBE “saturation knob” about 40% of the way to get my point across!

Mic, pre and chain (or not).
Here is where I would sing the praises of the Nady SCM-1000 Wired Cardioid Studio Condenser Microphone. For it’s price, this thing is a beast and has yet to let me down. It captures my voice perfectly and really accentuates things without me having to going into a preamp. On “We The Evil” I used and abused X2’s ProChannel feature for everything I needed vocal wise. It’s such an amazing and powerful tool from the PC2A and Console Emulator Channel/Bus to the Compressor and Saturation Knob, it really gave me everything I needed for the vocal track and is perfect for drums and my master bus.

Getting my grit on: Not a perfect science.
For FX, I used VX-64 Vocal Strip. The doubler really helps the chorus vocals pop out, especially in the gang vocal sections and the Compander in the vocal strip really brings out the “throaty” tone in verse vocals, so much so, when mixing I cranked the tracked and could literally feel the grit in my throat in my stomach, it’s really a powerful tool. TheDeesser in the strip helps to clean up the throaty “s and p” mishaps. The “tube equalizer” allows me to bring out that mid range punch. I used the Delay within the VX-64 on my main chorus vocal help to create the hugeness of the chorus vocal by putting it just a tad out of time with the backup vocals and harmonies. That way, everything isn’t hitting directly at you–but more at slight little milliseconds off of one another, much like the natural movement of a choir…Too perfect is tooo bland in my opinion.

Scene of the rhyme.
All of the new MURDER FM record was tracked at my studio, THE SOUND FOUNDATION in Dallas. I’ve got multiple amp setups, drum isolation booth, a collection of different mics and all the latest Cakewalk plug-ins. One of my new faves for guitar tones is OVERLOUD. I track a mic’d amp tone and a clean DI signal for both post production and editing purposes. Heavier sounds such as MURDER FM’s tend to brickwall with distorted tones. Having a clean signal helps to view the transients gives me the flexibility to plug in anything missing in the mic’d amp tone to obtain the fullest guitar tone I possibly clean and avoid that “thin” one dimensional tone.

I told you—get me going and I don’t stop. But hey—God is in the details and I don’t wanna make him mad, so I spend a lotta time there. Besides, who wants to think about how far it is to the weekend when you could be thinking interfaces and plug-ins. ‘Tis the diff between a mere Monday and a NorMonday.

Posted on

Updated ProChannel Pack: Now Includes 4 ProChannel Modules & CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier

ProChannel Pack

We are pleased to announce that we have updated the ProChannel Pack to include the new CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifer.

Through May 23rd, you can download the new ProChannel Pack for only $149/£119/€149 (regular price if purchased separately is $276). Here’s everything you get with the ProChannel Pack:

  • CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier: Faithfully modeled after one of the most sought after studio compressors in history, the CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier puts the silky, smooth sound of this highly desirable unit right into SONAR X1 Producer Expanded or SONAR X2 Producer. It includes a VST and ProChannel version.
  • ProChannel Concrete Limiter: Tame rogue peaks and get punchier, in your face, mixes with the ProChannel Concrete Limiter. Advanced DSP combines highly transparent, look-ahead, limiting with low-latency performance and is suitable for peak limiting of individual tracks and level maximization of mix buses.
  • PC4K S-Type Expander/Gate: Expertly crafted by the Cakewalk DSP team, this ProChannel module rounds out our legendary, vintage-style, ProChannel modeling. The PC4K S-Type Expander / Gate Module features a classic design providing gate function to remove unwanted sound from a signal and upward expansion, employed by countless engineers to expand the dynamics of vocals and instruments.
  • PC4K S-Type Channel Compressor: A must-have addition to your effects arsenal, the new PC4K S-Type Channel Compressor adds vintage-era, console-style, channel compression to every ProChannel strip in SONAR X1 Producer Expanded and SONAR X2 Producer.

Download the ProChannel Pack

 

Get a tour of the new modular ProChannel – exclusive to SONAR X2 Producer.

Upgrade to SONAR X2 Producer to start using the expandable ProChannel and new modules.