COMPOSITION

We begin our special roundup of Essential

Techniques with nine workshops to aid your composition: from drum programming to melody production. Download all the plugins and tutorial files used in these workshops from FileSilo – see p95 of this issue for more info.

> Step by step 1. Recreating a classic TB-303 acid line with Dune CM

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Load Acid Riff.mid from Tutorial

Files on a new MIDI track in your DAW. Notice how some notes are at a velocity value of 90, while others are at 117? These two velocity values emulate the respective ‘regular’ and ‘accented’ notes that the TB-303’s internal sequencer will spit out. Also observe how each ‘regular’ note is a uniform 32nd-note in length; while longer, overlapping notes represent sequenced notes with ‘slide’ applied. 2

Next, load up Dune CM on the channel, and select Bank B to initialise the synth. Toggle the Mono button in the Output section to recreate the TB-303’s monophonic voicing, then set Glide to 60% to cause overlapping notes to slide into each other. Set Osc 1 as either a saw or square – no fancy waveforms allowed here! 3

Now, the filter: emulate the original unit’s filter design by choosing the LP Ladder 24dB filter. The TB-303’s Decay parameter is used to control filter envelope decay, so let’s set that up in Dune CM: set Filter Envelope’s Attack, Sustain and Release to 0, then Decay to around 60%. Now use the Filter Env knob to set the amount of filter modulation, as with the original’s Env Mod parameter. 4

Twisting the original synth’s Accent knob increases the filter envelope’s effect over accented notes, creating a distinctive ‘wow’ – and level increase – over those notes. We can replicate this in our patch by applying more of the filter envelope’s effect over riff notes with higher velocity values (ie, our ‘accented’ notes): head into the Mod Matrix and set things up as in the screenshot above. 5

To recreate the ‘wow’ shape of the filter’s effect over accented notes, set the Mod Envelope’s Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release to 27%, 44%, 0% and 0%. Now the Velocity » MM Amount 1 mod amount effectively becomes the original unit’s Accent knob, as it defines the amount by which the mod envelope affects the cutoff over our ‘accented’ (ie, higher velocity) notes. 6

The pulse width of the 303’s square wave oscillator subtly changes with pitch, so let’s replicate that in our patch. Set Osc 1 to a square wave, set P/Width to 55%, then head into the Mod Matrix and assign Note # as the source and Pulse Width as the destination, with an amount of +16. Our raw ‘303’ tone is complete: now apply distortion and modulation effects for aggression and movement.

> Step by step 2. Programming a hip-hop style beat with DopeVST BeatMachine CM

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Let’s look at how to program a J Dillastyle boom-bap hip-hop beat using DopeVST Beat Machine CM and a MIDI keyboard. By playing our beat into the DAW for further editing rather than programming it directly on the grid, we can create a drum break with a live, swung MPC-style groove. Open your DAW and set the BPM to 95. 2

Let’s choose a great drum kit for our beat – add Beat Machine CM and turn its output down to -6dB. Next, click on the preset selector (top-centre) to open the drumkit menu. Try cycling through the presets using notes C1-F1 on your MIDI keyboard to audition the different kits – we’ve gone for the HoodTheory kit as it has a solid yet classic sound. 3

Next, record in a solid kick and snare groove. Enable your DAW’s metronome to help keep your playing in time. Now, Record-Arm the Beat Machine CM track, hit Record and play in a groove using your MIDI controller. If you’re struggling to play along with the click, try slowing down the tempo then upping it again once you’re done. 4

We can make our recorded groove a bit more solid by tweaking the positioning and velocity of the notes. First, we’ll quantise the snare hits on beats two and four of each bar and the first kick drum of every bar – this’ll give our drumbeat a more focused groove, without making it sound too straight. 5

Now we’ve tightened the kicks and snares, the beat sounds a little off in places. Turn your DAW’s grid snapping off, and move any offending kick and snare hits manually until playing mistakes are eliminated, whilst keeping a live, swung overall feel. After this, adjust the velocity of any hits that are too loud or quiet until the break has a more consistent level. 6

To finish, we’ll add a clap layer to embellish our snare. Import Clap.wav from the Tutorial Files folder, and place it on beats two and four of each bar. After this, select the clap samples and turn grid snapping off before dragging them just ahead of the snares to taste – you should hear the clap hitting slightly before the snare, giving the snare a bigger attack.

> Step by step 3. Delaying hi-hat parts to create a different feel

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We can add real groove and flavour to a simple hip-hop break using a programmed hi-hat and some editing techniques. Start by opening any DAW, setting the BPM to 95 and importing Break.wav from the Tutorial Files. Add Beat Machine CM to a fresh MIDI track, with its AbstractWayz preset loaded. Draw in a hi-hat at E1 over eighth-notes. 2

Turn Beat Machine CM’s volume down by 6dB, then adjust the velocity of every other note to make the offbeat hats softer, giving a more dynamic feel. Next, we can use a sneaky trick to quickly change the timing of our hats – raise the Track Delay on the hats channel until they take on a more languid feel; we’ve gone for 20ms, to give the effect without ruining the groove. 3

We can manually edit the offbeat hats to add more swing. Select the MIDI notes and pull their start-points back a little – with snap turned off – until the beat takes on a lazier feel. Finally, we can vary individual offbeat hats a little further to humanise our percussion. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this to give your beat an individual, humanised groove.