Computer Music

>Step by step

1. Punchy bass

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1 If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to open your favoured DAW package and load an instance of the Zebra CM plugin. We’ll start by initialisi­ng the patch, by clicking in the central display area, just below the Computer Music graphic. Select UH Initialise. 2 The bass sound that we’ll create could be considered old-school, so we’ll start by tightening up the initial sound of the oscillator­s. Directly below the legend ‘Oscillator 1’ a dropdown menu-box allows for the selection of the number of aliased waves. We’ll keep it simple to start with by selecting a Single wave. 3 In much the same way that we altered the number of aliased waves on Oscillator 1, we’ll make the exact same adjustment for Oscillator 2. The process is the same, but you’ll need to move to the upper right-hand-side of the plugin window, to address the second oscillator. 4 To assist with our editing process, decrease the volume of Oscillator 2 completely, in order to create some sonic space, so that we can hear what we’re doing. This will merely have the effect of muting the audio output of Oscillator 2, while we work with Oscillator 1. 5 We also have a modulation source in play, which we need to remove; the Env2 pot, located in the filter section, should be placed in the 12 o’clock position, which will simultaneo­usly read ‘zero’ on the central display, while making the alteration. The resulting sound will now be fairly quiet, next to the previous output. 6 Our sound is currently affected by a large degree of filter cutoff, so reaching for the Cutoff pot in the filter section, increase the pot amount to make your patch more audible. Set the cutoff to around the 10 o’clock position, as an ideal starting location.

7 Moving back to Oscillator 1, we’re going to check that we have a suitable wave source. With the Wave pot located all the way to the left, we should hear a Saw waveform. You can hear the other waveforms available, by sweeping the pot through its wavetable, but for the purposes of our bass patch, keep it to a saw (fully left.) 8 We’re going to add Oscillator 2 back into our mix, but in order to do this, we’ll need to reinstate the volume of Oscillator 2. We won’t actually need very much of this oscillator, so turn up the volume to around 50%, relating to a 10 o’clock position on the Volume pot. 9 Our motive for Oscillator 2 is to create a sub-oscillator effect. Classic subs are based around using a square wave, which can be set with a small and subtle movement of the Wave pot within Oscillator 2. Place the pot in a position around 8 o’clock, which will result in the central display reading 2.00. This should be a square wave. 10 Oscillator 2 needs tuning, so to do this, we will drop the main tuning pot to -12.00, which places Osc 2 one octave below Osc 1. We will also need to eliminate any subtle detuning, which can be altered by placing the accompanyi­ng Detune pot at exactly 12 o’clock. 11 We now have a relatively thick and sustained texture, but we want to create some attack and punch at the beginning of each note. We’ll use the main envelope (Env1) for this task, assigning a spare pot in the filter section, by pressing Control+mouse click. Once assigned, increase the pot amount slightly. You’ll hear a bright attack at the front of each note. 12 We now have the basis of our patch, which is ready for some fine tuning, to suit your production needs. Try altering the Decay and Sustain phases of Envelope 1, along with the Env1 and Cutoff pots, located within the filter section. Altering the decay element will dictate the snappiness of the front-end punch.

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