> Step by step

20. Precise punch with extreme transient surgery

1 We can use surgical cuts, chops and processing to deconstruct and rebuild drum hits so that they sound markedly different from their original form – or even construct Frankenstein drum hits from scratch! Set BPM to 128, then import Backing.wav and Kick.wav onto the arrange page – we’re using Steinberg Cubase Pro 9, but any DAW will be fine. 4 Next, load any transient shaper (we use Cubase’s Envelope Shaper here) onto the kick’s transient channel and add a small Attack boost to give the kick more punch. Now we’ve transformed our boring kick into something more punchy and unusual, let’s turn our attention to building a snare. Start by importing SnareClick.wav and SnareBody.wav onto two fresh audio channels. 7 We’ll use iZotope Trash 2 to give our live snare a crusty feel – add a fresh instance to the SnareReal channel then call up the Bit Wrench preset for bitcrushed crunch and loudness. Dial in a -5dB Output gain adjustment to balance this. Next, we’ll group the layers to a single bus for further processing. 2 By dividing the kick into separate transient and sustain portions, then placing each on separate tracks, we can process each part independently for unique, customisable results. Set Cubase’s quantize grid to 1/128 and turn on Snap to Zero Crossing to avoid clicks or pops when editing the audio. Cut the first 128th of each kick out, then move the transient section to a fresh audio channel. 5 These two layers are the basis of our custom snare, but the click is lacking sharpness – to remedy this, load Melda’s MTransient onto the SnareClick channel, then add a 6dB Attack boost for extra punch. After this, we can add some density to the snare’s body layer using Acon Digital’s excellent CM Verb: load the plugin over the snare body track and choose the Studio A Reverb program. 8 Add a new stereo group channel, then route all three snare layers’ outputs to it. We can add aggressive compression to really gel the parts together – we reach for Sly-Fi’s Deflector (get the demo from slyfidigital.com). A THD setting of 2 adds grungy distortion to the snare; a Release of around 9 o’clock increases the compressor’s snap. 3 Distorting the kick’s sustain will add some grit – load AudioThing’s ValveFilter CM onto the sustain channel, turn on the Valve Drive, then push the Drive dial up to around 12 o’clock to give the kick’s sustain a crunchy, distorted tail that works well as part of the drum break. Set the filter Cutoff to around 10 o’clock to add a resonant thump. 6 A CM Verb Reverb time of 0.4s tightens up our body snare; setting the High Cut-off to around 500Hz adds ambient density to only the low mids. Now we’ve added space and punch to our snare, an acoustic layer will add much needed character – load in SnareReal.wav onto another blank audio channel and duplicate the hit so it plays at the same time as the other layers. 9 After adding a little Output gain in Deflector to level the snare’s volume, we shape the layered snare as a whole using Soundtoys’ SieQ. After adding SieQ to the snare group, we apply a 9dB Low boost alongside a 6dB High boost – this gives our snare some high-frequency crack and a gelled low-end. Finally, a 3dB Drive boost saturates our snare more for glue and grunt.