To round off our journey into drum manipulation we’ll use Alchemy as a processor for real-time manipulation of existing ESX24 libraries, turning them into something more varied and interesting. We will then look at how to combine our synthesized kick drum with a multi-sampled kick drum. Dedicated drum synths like those in Native Instruments’ Maschine or FXpansion’s Tremor are often mentioned for the quality of their results, but equally good results can be coaxed out of Logic’s stock instrument Ultrabeat, with a little effort and know how. In this month’s Logic Notes we’ll begin by looking at using basic drum synthesis to craft your own kick drum sounds so you can take control of their length, shape and timbre. If you find yourself spending ages auditioning drum samples in a quest for the right sound then learning more about drum synthesis could give you a viable alternative. Changing the curve of the decay portion of the envelope will significantly change the timbre of the click.ĭesign and manipulate your own kick drums from scratch using Ultrabeat and Alchemy in Logic Pro X.
Screen 1: In Ultrabeat we can use envelope 1 to modulate the pitch of oscillator 1, adding a reassuring click to our 808 kick-drum sound.
