Step by step
Getting the most out of automation in the arrangement process
1 To start, I’ve written a simple 48-bar liquid loop at 174bpm, with a focus on drums and bass. I’ve gathered a variety of sounds that work tonally with my track’s groove – there’s a sweeping noise riser, a musical pad line and two vocal loops.
2 To create build-ups and tension in each section, I begin with the white noise sweep. Here, I’ve rendered a simple white noise sample from FXpansion Strobe, then bounced the sound as a WAV and dragged it into a Cubase Sampler Track. Now I have easy control over filtering and volume.
3 Inside the Sampler Track, I’ve drawn in an eight-bar C3 note at the end of the first 16 bars. I’ll automate the volume to rise up subtly, to gently fade the effect into the track. Setting the Resonance to 50% provides a peak around the filter’s cutoff frequency, which I’ll automate next…
4 Moving onto the filter, using my MIDI controller, I’ve recorded in a rising sweep from 700Hz up to around 4kHz. Now I have my simple filter sweep, at the end of the next two 16-bar sections, I’ve duplicated the sound and loaded up Cableguys ShaperBox, which will help vary the build-ups throughout.
5 In ShaperBox, I’ve Bypassed the effect for the first 16 bars, and turned it on for the next 32. Now, I’ll begin to generate different versions of volume and pan modulation – the first a synced 1/2 rate for a tremolo effect, then the same with panning. I’ll then automate the Rate of each in alternating sections.
6 Next, this pad line has been designed by triggering a stab sample via Cubase’s Sampler Track, then coating it in reverb. I’ve automated the Sampler Track’s Filter Cutoff, starting from 4000Hz down to 100Hz to curve the pad’s tone into the next section of the track.
7 As the pad sound has a long reverb tail, I don’t want this to carry over to the next section. A nice dramatic cut will allow the track to ‘breathe’ into the next segment. Here, I’ve simply automated the
Mute parameter (the bottom automation lane in the screenshot above) to switch the ‘verb off at the beginning of the next 16 bars. Try this for abrupt switch-ups!
8 A practice I commonly use – and one that’s a familiar technique in dance music – is to filter your drum bus. For a quick climb in tension, I’ve loaded Camel Phat at the end of my drum group chain. I’ve automated the band-pass filter using a
low-cut rise from 20Hz to 1000Hz, building up at the end of the first section.
9 Next, I’ve loaded in a pitched-down vocal stab, and inserted Ohm Force’s OhmBoyz tape delay over it. To generate a looping delay sound, I’ve automated the Filter Resonance to morph the sound over time, being careful not to overcrank the Feedback in the loop.
10 For the next sound, I’ve sourced a new vocal sample and created a fresh loop. Here, I’ve used automation to introduce an ambient reverb from VahallaRoom, providing an extensive tail that drops into the next section. To generate a feeling of ‘large-to-small’, I’ve automated the bypass on and off quickly over two beats, adding ambience to the drop.
11 Within the last phrase of the 48-bar loop, I’ve used automation to increase the pitch of my vocal loop over time. I’ve adjusted the Glide parameter within the sampler, to bend the pitch of one note into the next. I’ve then precisely automated the Pitch control, moving the notes up to create a quirky alternate melody.
12 To fine-tune all the automation, I’ll solo each part and ensure that all the edits sound smooth and precise. I check for any clicks and timing issues along the way. After, I’ll usually bounce all the automated parts and drag them into my sample library for use in future projects.