- Creating Sampler Instruments
- Using the EXS24 Instrument Editor
- Creating Loop Points
- Using the Parameter Window
- Creating Multiple Zones from Region Transients
- Using Filters and Modulation to Process the Sound
- Using Groups
- Routing Individual Sounds for Processing
- Lesson Review
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Using Filters and Modulation to Process the Sound
Just as you used the ES2 synthesizer to process the oscillators’ signal, you can use the EXS24 filter and modulation options to process a sampler instrument you created. In fact, the EXS24’s filter and modulation routers directly mirror the ones in the ES2, with the exception of offering only a single filter, instead of a pair.
The filter in the EXS24 is a multimode filter that includes high-pass, low-pass, and band-pass modes. To take advantage of its sound-shaping properties, you need to turn it on.
Click the filter on/off button located at the right side of the filter section.
Now that the filter is turned on, you can apply filter settings to shape the sound.
Do the following with the EXS24’s filter settings (as in the following figure):
- Click the 6 db low-pass (LP) filter mode/slope button to gradually attenuate frequencies above the cutoff frequency.
- Drag the Cutoff knob to about 68%.
- Drag the Resonance knob to about 45% to accentuate the cutoff frequency by applying a gain boost.
- Click the Fat button to retain the low frequencies that are naturally diminished by high-resonance settings.
- Drag the Drive knob to about 20% to distort the filter and add harmonics.
Now that you’ve adjusted your filter settings, it’s time to hear the result.
Play the C3 through G3 keys on your MIDI keyboard, listening to the results of the filter settings.
You can further expand the filter’s sound-shaping properties by applying modulation to the cutoff frequency. The goal is to create a surging filter sweep that is timed to the tempo of the song. You can do so by using the EXS24’s modulation router, which is nearly identical to the ES2’s modulation router except that it calls a parameter that is changed dynamically the “destination” instead of the “target.”
In the third (empty) slot in the modulation router, choose filter cutoff (Flt Cutoff) as the destination (Dest), and LFO1 as the source (Src).
Drag the Intensity slider to about +7.7%.
Select the top sawtooth setting for LFO1’s waveform.
Drag LFO1’s Rate knob to the left to 1/8.
You now have a filter sweep for every eighth note, regardless of the project tempo.
Now you’ll test your modulation routing. Because it’s tempo dependent, let’s listen to it playing in the Tracks area.
- In the Transport bar, click the Cycle button.
Play the project, listening to the result.
You should hear a sweeping, pulsing, swelling drumbeat that is significantly transformed from the original.
Stop playback.
While the loop was playing, you might have noticed that the EXS24 was distorting, and the channel volume pushed well into the red. This is because of the extra gain introduced by boosting the Drive and Resonance controls. You can recover a little headroom by lowering the EXS24 Volume control, located to the far right of the interface.
Drag the Volume knob downward to a value of –7 db.
)
)