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Tuning a snare drum sample

1

Next we need a snare drum to complement our kick, so let’s take a look through the snares folder. Find something that has a plain but solid quality to it that will work well with the kick, so select the next MIDI track and drag the sample into its device chain.

2

Typically we wouldn’t use a big snare sound in a house beat, so let’s change our pattern to a DnB one. Set Live’s tempo to 174bpm, and change the kick pattern so that the kick plays on the first and seventh eighth-notes. Create a MIDI part on the snare track, and have the snare play C3 eighth-notes on the second and fourth beats. (Audio: 2-step DnB.wav)

3

Thanks to our sensible sound selection, the snare works well immediately, but it can still be improved. Start by soloing the snare track and opening SPAN again. In our case, the snare’s low end peaks at F#3, almost an octave above the kick. By tuning it to the same key as the kick, we can make the two sit better together.

4

Set the Simpler snare’s Trans(pose) parameter to -2 or whatever your snare requires. Now both samples are in the same key and sounding more natural. This tuning does take some of the shine off the snare, but we can fix that with some EQ. Insert an EQ Eight on the snare track. (Audio: Tuned 2-step DnB.wav)

5

We can see from looking at SPAN that the snare’s fundamental frequency is now around 168Hz. Set the second band of the EQ Eight to the bell shape and tune its frequency to 168Hz. We can now use the Gain control to adjust the weight of the snare. Make the bell curve tighter by raising its Q to 2.80.

6

Turn the Gain up to 3.5dB to give the snare a more weighty DnB feel. We still need to bring the sparkle back into the highs, which we can do using band 4, set to the high-shelf filter by default. Set its frequency to 500Hz and use the Gain knob to control the brightness of the snare’s highs. Set it to 2.5dB. (Audio: EQed 2-step DnB.wav)

7

The snare is quite loose and flabby, so let’s tighten it up. This time we’re going to use a combination of amplitude ADSR adjustment and shortening the MIDI notes to get as much control as possible over the decay of the sound. Start by opening the snare’s MIDI clip and turning Live’s snap-to-grid mode off (Alt+4).

8

Now we can fine-tune the length of the MIDI notes. Set the length of the snare to about a 16th-note. This makes it stop very abruptly, but only because the Simpler’s Release time is extremely short. Turn the Release knob up to 500+ms to loosen up the tail of the snare slightly. (Audio: Snare release.wav)

9

With the tail sorted, we can use the Decay time and Sustain level to control the body of the sound. Set the Sustain to -34dB. This makes the snare sound less loud because it isn’t audible for as long as it used to be, but also adds punch by increasing the dynamic range. (Audio: Snare sustain.wav)

10

The Decay knob allows us to set the timing of the drop in volume. Lower values give a snappier, punchier sound; longer settings give us a loud but less defined one. For a good balance of loudness and punch, let’s go with a Decay time of 600ms. (Audio: Snare decay.wav)

11

Now our kick and snare are both punchy and tight, but the kick is a little loud. Reduce the kick Simpler’s Volume. The kick and snare should sound well-balanced now, and a look at SPAN should confirm it – the fundamental frequencies of the kick and snare peak at approximately the same level, and the snare’s bright high end is at about the same level, too. (Audio: Balanced 2-step DnB.wav)

12

This snare is quite bright, which could work if you’re not planning on using many other high-frequency elements in your track, but is otherwise going to clog up the mix. Let’s preemptively dull it a little. Set EQ band 3 to 7kHz and -2dB. This reduces the perceived volume of the snare, so turn the Simpler’s Volume up to -11.5dB. (Audio: Dulled 2-step DnB.wav)