Basically I'm curious about how to make noise sweeps sound... good?

I mean, the common practice of high pass/bandpass on white noise combined with reverb/delay/flanger/whatever sounds pretty good, but there is (to me) a noticeable difference in what can be accomplished using the common youtube-tutorial-level knowledge and what you'd hear on a track from a known producer.

For instance, Deadmau5 frequently features very smooth, sort of swishy noise sweeps. Most known producers are capable of packing a lot of energy in their sweeps, and I just can't seem to reproduce it. I'm on lunch break at work so I can't post examples right now, but I'll try to pick out some good ones later.

For example: are there certain frequency ranges you emphasize, attenuate, or filter out? Do you generally not go above or below a certain frequency? If using a bandpass, when/why/how would you increase or decrease the bandwidth? What parameters of processors like reverb or flanger do you use to impart a specific feeling to sweeps?

I'm really not even looking for answers to these specific questions; I just think it would be cool to get a discussing going on what everyone does with noise sweeps to give them a certain 'vibe'. Obviously the kind of stuff you'd see in a tutorial (i.e. high pass the noise, raise frequency & resonance gradually, etc) is just the starting point.

 

This might not be exactly an answer to your question but I think it's still worth pointing out.

You might want to try more "unconventional" sources for your noise.

For example I made a couple of really good risers out of wind samples. It's very close to white/pink noise but has a much wider and interesting sound.

That alone could make a big difference

 

For me the big noticeable difference between known producers and your common knowledge youtube tutorials is the youtube tutorials will only focus on one white noise sweep sound to fill the drop. Most well known producers will layer up noise sweep FX's much like layering synths to get a bigger sound. The noise sweeps will have different textures, fill out different parts of the frequency spectrum and even have different lengths.

 

@ zero-frag
Oh I agree completely. Reverb freezes work well. Automated granular stretches of drum samples are another favorite of mine, especially for something with a little more impact than noise sweeps. Automating the M4L device Fragulator with just about any sustained, atonal sample is great. I've got lots of workarounds for creative risers.

But sometimes I just want a noise sweep. Something a little more 'vanilla'. And I suck at those lol.


@ Disfunktion

Right on. Dada Life does come to mind for using synths as risers. I'll listen for this kind of stuff and see what I come up with. Thanks.

 

90% of the time they are coming from good sample packs. And usually famous producers (it's more swedish thing), exchange each others sample packs. Create a good personal sample library it's part of the game.

This is a good free library i like http://99sounds.org/white-noise-sfx/

ps: you can collect them from remix stems or splice projects

 

Yeah Dada Life are genius when it comes to synth layering/processing, their Future Music In The Studio interview is full of producer tips and tricks. This is also a screen grab from 3LAU twitter feed of an old project he was working on, but if you have a close look at the FX tracks you'll get an idea of how a known producer layers up noise FX's to fill out the spectrum

​

 

Or you could simply get UVI Sweep Machine. Then you'd at least have a good start. Without having to use preproduced samples.

 

@ Mostwest
Thanks! I'll check it out when I get home

@ Disfunktion
Yeah Dada Life was the first Future Music video I watched. After that I went on a binge of In the Studio With... and I learned less in the following 10-15 videos than I did that first one with Dada Life. In particular Martin Garrix and Aviici really did not impress me. I can't discredit their workflow but dudes just flip through presets - disappointing. DL are brilliant though.


@Hans
Interesting looking plugin. And cheap. I have like next to no money after I pay my obligations, but pretty much anyone can afford that. Maybe I'll wait for a good week and try to grab it.


edit: found answer to my question

 

...or use the synth of your choice and modulate the filters or parametric EQs by various LFOs or Envelope Generators.
For example, FAW Circle has all the necessary components and then some,
Reveal Spire has dual HP/BP/LP filters and one parametric EQ band,
Xfer Nerve has a "modulatable" parametric EQ and many filters too,
FabFilter Twin 2 has similar capabilities with its semi-modular architecture - Just to name a few candidates.

The good thing with a synth is that you can save noisy presets for later use in different projects, and fine-tune them to your liking.

You can also do it completely within your DAW if you play around with multiple parametric EQ bands and modulate each center frequency independently using automation curves, but that's not as handy and quick as using a synth. (Think BPM-syncing...)

Make sure you play with the settings for long enough and try both boosting and cutting frequencies.

 

Automation, Pitch Bend, Filtering and Layering. The rest is down to experimentation.

Spend a week just designing sweeps,Ii guarantee you'll come out with some unique sounding ones. Once you've built up a bank of your own sounds start layering these together with other sounds from sample packs or what you've created!

 

https://youtu.be/tKi9Z-f6qX4?list=PLj5YGBYOnfpVDaBeKR98020_EFupUj9sI&t=248

This, for instance, is a really nice sweep. Nothing special, just very smooth. Deadmau5 has a lot of very clean noise sweeps that are kind of reminiscent of the ocean.

A week of designing sweeps sounds maddening.

 

Cav Emp: What did you do with the youtube link so that it exactly points to the right section in the song?

EDIT: Ahh okay, I already saw it in the right click menu under the song. Nice, I didn't know this.

 

Oh, this sounds more like an oscillator frequency-modulated by a filtered noise oscillator, and the darker one at 4:25 sounds like noise through a tube. I have an idea of how to do this with a modular synth or with my VL70m, but conventional synths will probably have a hard time creating sounds like these...
Better give a long plastic tube a fast spin and record the sounds. More fun and more authentic.

No, don't! Life's too precious to get lost in noise for a whole week