working on a new synth project without drums or samples...

Discussion in 'Samplers, Synthesizers' started by J Frank Badass, Mar 13, 2022.

  1. J Frank Badass

    J Frank Badass Ultrasonic

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    trying to do something different than my normal things...no AD2 or sampled drums or whatever

    sound is spacey/ambient synth stuff on Diva for the most apart

    trying to find suggestions for synth stuff that can provide a good rhythmic pulse or time keeping aspect without overtly sounding like a real or synth drum kit

    never tried this type of things before...thanks for any help

    cheers!
     
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  3. Olymoon

    Olymoon Moderator

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    If you don't want to use any kind of drum, not sampled, not synthesized, you can use very low bass to impulse the rhythm. Also, arpeggios are the key.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2022
  4. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    In principle you can use all virtual synthesizers (VSTi) that have an arpeggio and/or LFOs.
    Or you look for presets that have an ARP or SEQ as an abbreviation.
     
  5. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    you can do some rhythmic filtering with shade or volcano, etc.
     
  6. Oneeyedstan

    Oneeyedstan Platinum Record

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  7. JMOUTTON

    JMOUTTON Audiosexual

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    There are drum sounds in DIVA and most VSTi synths.

    It's just a pitch sweep ADSR that is usually attached to some kind of LPF and an OSC that provides the character (snare vs BD, ect...) Just open one up and see for yourself.
     
  8. J Frank Badass

    J Frank Badass Ultrasonic

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    thanks everyone for the suggestions!
     
  9. Angelo Archetti

    Angelo Archetti Ultrasonic

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    You can use noise from diva to create open/cłosed hat etc
    With sine wave you can create a kick and combine with adsr to pitch the kick
     
  10. naitguy

    naitguy Audiosexual

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    If you want some inspiration, check out this playlist / this guy's channel:


    I personally have a few songs on the go that I really like that have no drums at all. I'm a little stuck on progress on them at the moment, but I'll eventually finish them. But lots of movement and thick, spacey reverb can make these types of songs sound pretty full and interesting. The guy who does these vids is big into Valhalla's Supermassive and Shimmer verbs.
     
  11. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    Klaus Schulze - Moondawn (1976)

    Klaus Schulze (born 4 August 1947) is a German electronic Music pioneer,[composer and musician.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2022
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  12. mk_96

    mk_96 Audiosexual

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    What you're doing is called Berlin school electronic music, you can find several playlists or compilations everywhere, maybe you'll hear something that could help you in one of those, but what everyone already said is pretty much it.
     
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  13. angie

    angie Producer

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    Moondawn is full of drums. :dunno: Timewind maybe?
     
  14. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    Klaus Schulze - Timewind (1975)
     
  15. dondada

    dondada Audiosexual

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    Arp2600
     
  16. Olymoon

    Olymoon Moderator

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    This is a master piece :wink:
     
  17. Oneeyedstan

    Oneeyedstan Platinum Record

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    From the Album "Stunde Null":

     
  18. madbuzzin

    madbuzzin Platinum Record

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    this is my jam, its how I prefer to make music. I have been experimenting with orchestral plugins drenched in fx to make a celer like sound, or
    Benoît Pioulard - this man is a sonic genius and makes very top teir ambient music.

    To me, these are the people to look up to in the ambient world... true ambient... not the "ambient" bullshit corny new age shit where there's rhythms and percussion thats the low IQ take on ambient music... have the chord changes be the rhythms, have no percussion at all, be truly ambient - structures in silence is my favorite ambient song of all... just recently grabbed the cassette


    in all honesty, you have to feel when you make ambient, and if you are just trying it to make something different, and you arent truly invested into the sound... you wont like the end product I believe.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2022
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  19. J Frank Badass

    J Frank Badass Ultrasonic

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    thanks for mentioning Shade....hadnt tried it

    theres a setting on there that was helpful for providing a rhythmic throb thing to keep things in some kind of time

    much appreciated thanks!
     
  20. J Frank Badass

    J Frank Badass Ultrasonic

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    also the Klaus album is really something...love to hear it! :)
     
  21. Zenarcist

    Zenarcist Audiosexual

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    You can make drums sound like anything with the right VST FX.
     
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