Tutorial: How to make a basic synthesized drum kit (using FL Studio ) OK then, it's been a while since I last put anything up here, but seeing as I just might be writing about sound design for the Audio Times (www.audio- times.com ), as well as seeing as I've been very active in the FL Studio forum lately. I thought I'd do a fairly basic introduction to creating percussion instruments using subtractive synthesis. This time I'll be using the 3XOSC that comes with FL Studio as it's one of myfavourites and really the «Swiss Army Knife» of Image-Line to make a basic Roland 808 style drumkit. It should be noted that I will be using a proprieta ry piece of software known as FL Studio (earlier known as Fruity Loops before they changed their name). FL Studio is one of the leading Digital Audio Workstation applications in addition to being the most affordable and versatile. I have nothing to do with this piece of software other than being an enthusiastic user, but I still think it's worth mentioning as it's one of those big "bang for the buck" applications (while Ableton, Cubase, Nuendo and Samplitude are great pieces of software, none can match the price and versatility of the Image-Line line of production tools). You can download the (fully functional) demo HERE. If you're an open source enthusiast, I might suggest LMMS, which is today one of the most interesting and powerful pieces of open source production software. LMMS is made for Linux, but could be run alongside Windows eith er as part of a virtual mac hine, or using th e Wubi (Ubu ntu installed as a software app lication) installation available on the Ubuntu website. LMMS is not only interesting as it's free and powerful and comes with some ver y interesting Ga me Boy synth a nd SID emulati on synthesizers, bu t also because i t very closelyresembles FL Studio, and also features a clone of the 3XOSC I will be talking about here. The audio demo and tutorial demo .flp file can be found at my website: www.tcarisland. comPart one – The Bass Drum. Step one: Start up FL Studio and load the 3XOSC (well duh!).
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Tutorial: How to make a basic synthesized drum kit (using FL Studio)
OK then, it's been a while since I last put anything up here, but seeing as I just
might be writing about sound design for the Audio Times ( www.audio-
times.com ), as well as seeing as I've been very active in the FL Studio forum
lately. I thought I'd do a fairly basic introduction to creating percussion
instruments using subtractive synthesis.
This time I'll be using the 3XOSC that comes with FL Studio as it's one of my
favourites and really the «Swiss Army Knife» of Image-Line to make a basic
Roland 808 style drumkit.
It should be noted that I will be using a proprietary piece of software known as
FL Studio (earlier known as Fruity Loops before they changed their name). FL Studio is one of the leading
Digital Audio Workstation applications in addition to being the most affordable and versatile. I have nothing todo with this piece of software other than being an enthusiastic user, but I still think it's worth mentioning as it's
one of those big "bang for the buck" applications (while Ableton, Cubase, Nuendo and Samplitude are great
pieces of software, none can match the price and versatility of the Image-Line line of production tools). You can
download the (fully functional) demo HERE.
If you're an open source enthusiast, I might suggest LMMS, which is today one of the most interesting and
powerful pieces of open source production software. LMMS is made for Linux, but could be run alongside
Windows either as part of a virtual machine, or using the Wubi (Ubuntu installed as a software application)
installation available on the Ubuntu website. LMMS is not only interesting as it's free and powerful and comes
with some very interesting Game Boy synth and SID emulation synthesizers, but also because it very closely
resembles FL Studio, and also features a clone of the 3XOSC I will be talking about here.
The audio demo and tutorial demo .flp file can be found at my website: www.tcarisland.com
Part one – The Bass Drum.
Step one:
Start up FL Studio and load the 3XOSC (well duh!).
Set all the Oscillators to a sine wave and set the course tuning (crs) knob to the same pitch for all three. You
could also use just one oscillator and set the volume of osc two and three to zero, but using all three gives you
the option to combine waveforms, which is something we'll want if we want a more «distorted» bass drum
sound.
To set all the crs knobs to zero, simply hold down the alt key while clicking on the buttons, either that or try andturn all the crs buttons to zero, but it takes less time by just defaulting it (which is what you do when you alt
click in FL Studio).
Step three:
Click on the instrument property tab of the 3XOSC channel settings.