> Sttep by sttep

33.. Baassiiccsoperation

1

Now let’s set up a basic effect. Load up some suitable audio (we’re using a beat loop) and insert an instance of Flux Mini 2 CM. Make sure you have the Init preset loaded from the preset bar.

2

Looking at the parameters you should see a pink halo round the Amplitude control. Hit play and you’ll hear Flux Mini 2 CM is controlling the amplitude and this is synced to 1/8th notes. Change the Sync value to quarter notes and you’ll hear the amplitude curve occurring four times for each 4/4 bar.

3

Now double click the Amplitude depth to zero it and set the Amplitude to 100%. From the filter drop-down, select Low-Pass and set the Cutoff to about 100Hz and Resonance to about 30%. Set the Filter amount to +100% and the Sync rate to half. You should now have a rising filter happening every two beats.

4

Now try adjusting the curve. Here we’ve made one simple change to the purple curve node at the end and the curve now tails off more gradually so the filter frequency reduces less aggressively. By adjusting one of the initial purple nodes we can also exaggerate the filter rise at the beginning.

5

We’ve already mentioned the graph toolbar and this can help when adjusting curves. The pencil and rubber tools on the left provide simpler singleclick functionality for these key options. Meanwhile, the two magnet icons on the right are for snap and allow you to snap the main nodes or curve nodes to the grid.

6

Now try applying the curve to other parameters. Here we’ve set the wet/ dry Mix to 50% with Depth set to +100% so the curve subtly controls the mix blend. We’ve also applied the curve to the Resonance (+84%) so it exaggerates it when the curve peaks.

7

You can add loads of nodes to Flux Mini 2 CM and this means you can create some pretty cool effects. The plugin includes both the preset bank included with the free version and a second bank of 15 special Computer Music presets. Head to this folder and load up the Choppy Riser preset.

8

This complex curve, set across two bars, delivers an alternative riser, but because it’s not too fast, you can also clearly see the illuminated curve tracer highlighting the curve as it plays. Here we’ve switched Sync to four bars and finessed the nodes to create a slightly different rising filter effect.

9

Check out some of the other presets in the Computer Music folder. They are a bit more interesting than the regular bank. Good examples include Zero Cool, which combines filter and amplitude modulation, and the excellent Glitched Steps, which provides an excellent springboard for all sorts of glitchy effects.