Oceans of sonic possibility
Backgrounds and atmospheres mean different things to different producers. If you’re an EDM writer, you’ll be interested in how to add reverbs and delays to your lead sounds so that they fill the floor. If you’re a leftfield noisesmith, you might be more interested in how you can use field recordings and found sounds as layers within your tracks, either using these ‘as recorded’, or as a means to create sample instruments which loop and weave in and out of the texture of your mixes.
In truth, while these two approaches might appear as though they’re at opposing ends of the sonic axis, the reality is that they both require a similar approach, which is to recognise that the sounds ‘behind’ the dominant parts of a mix need as much attention as those foreground elements which are designed to steal the show. It’s amazing how twodimensional mixes which don’t pay enough attention to the ‘background’ sounds appear, whereas tracks which have had time invested in more peripheral sounds keep giving, with new treats to discover buried in a mix through repeated listening.
Later we’ll talk all about effects treatments for big EDM style drops and builds, with a video showing you how to set these up. So here let’s talk about the benefits of found sound and sample libraries and instruments which celebrate them.
NI’s Kinetic Metal library, which is available as part of the Komplete collections, or separately for Kontakt, goes to the heart of why any sound can become a useful timbral layer in a production. As its name suggests, buried inside its playback engine are a collection of metallic sounds sourced from a variety of unlikely places, including typewriters, junk percussion and metal tubes. But what Kinetic Metal does most valuably is introduce ‘evolution’ in these, so that rather than being flat, sustained sonic layers, its sounds are always on the move, morphing to produce drones, creaks, rattles and much more. These kinds of layers are invaluable if you’re looking to create something new in atmospheric or texture-heavy tracks, even when they’re buried at a low level in your pieces; it’s their unpredictable nature which most appeals. They encourage you to think in a different way; whether that means rendering them as audio files to select only the sections you want, or whether resampling them to produce new, original loops appeals more. Add effects to select only the frequency bands of your choice, and then others to place them ‘at the back’ of the mix, or washing from side to side and you’re suddenly floating in an ocean of sonic possibility.
iZotope’s Iris 2 is another library which both includes – and makes it easy to add – audio files sourced from anywhere to become new musical instruments. But to pick out just two such libraries does no justice to the tens or hundreds of others which encourage similar sonic experimentation and they’re all a great leap-off point for those interested in textural production.