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Lesson time: (5min 34sec)
Brian Funk walks through the drum effects he reaches for in Ableton Live - high- and low-pass filters, reverb, delay and beat repeat - to add movement and energy to your beats.
This lesson is part of the course Live Performance in Ableton Live
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Right now, I want to talk about some handy things you can do to your drums, some nice effects you can put on them.
Just to remind you, I have one whole track dedicated to drums. Every single clip on this track is a drum beat of some sort. There are some fun effects that I like to use:
I'm very into having both a high pass and a low pass filter. Here's how I set it up:
Routing: This track is routed to "Drum Dummy."
Low Pass Filter:
High Pass Filter:
Another effect is the reverb to delay.
I set this up by creating a couple of chains where the dry signal is in the middle and it fades into reverb and delay.
You can also create interesting effects similar to the beat repeat and crusher:
I have this set so that four buttons on my controller will affect these beat repeats.
To show you how to set up one of these:
Add Beat Repeat: Drop a beat repeat right into the middle of the track.
Select Repeat Mode: This means, as soon as it is turned on, it will start repeating at the specified grid interval.
Playing the Clip: When you hit a note and engage the button, you will get a 30-second note repeater.
You will still hear the main beat because our beat repeat is set to mix, giving you both dry and wet signals. I prefer setting it to insert, which cuts out the beat completely. This way, we only hear the repeat, creating a drum fill effect.
Depending on when you engage it, you'll get different repeats. This is a fun way to play around with drums and generate unique drum fill sounds.
When you start experimenting with your filters and beat repeats, you can achieve some pretty cool effects.
To recap:
Have fun creating!
Brian Funk is a musician, producer, songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer. Since 2014 he has taught the Advanced Music Production with Ableton Live course for Berklee College of Music. He has played guitar, bass, drums, synths and sung in touring rock bands, and these days focuses on his solo electronic set - taking his studio experiments to the stage.Brian loves writing, teaching and sound design. He produces Ableton Live tutorials and Sound Packs, and has released free Ableton Live Packs since 2011 - over 125 so far. As an Ableton Certified Trainer he has given lessons and seminars covering every stage of the production process, and writes regularly on his blog and for other publications.Influenced by rock and roll, video games, early hip hop, punk and electronica - from The Beatles, Neil Young, Nirvana and Aerosmith to Neon Indian - he describes his own sound as 'futuristic, yet nostalgic'. In his MusicGurus course, Live Performance in Ableton Live, he shows you how he turns studio ideas into a real, hands-on live set: sampling sounds and turning them into playable instruments, running guitars and synths through electronic gear, and mixing and composing on the fly while playing live and singing. You'll come away able to build and perform your own electronic set with confidence. read more
