mashin up loops

[Tyrisia]

Has anyone got any good ideas of treatment/effects that can be applied to loops to get that ace techno sound? I've tried all sorts but my loops somehow sound a bit tame and straight :( - any ideas anyone?

In particular if DSP reads this I'd love to know how u get u're sound man, that loop 1 offa u're site rocks! 8)

[audioinjection]

you can try compression, it usually phattens up my stuff. just a suggestion.

[Jimfish]

i think what you are looking for is a larger sound, this in mind try:

taking loops and duplicating them, run one through a lp filter with lots of resonance at abou 33% the other one eq out the bottom end..

also try taking a loop and putting a bit of verb on it, then resampling it and putting distortion on the lot, that should give things a bit of beef..

above all just dont be scared to go overboard with fx to begin, dont worry about getting things sounding nice, just try experimenting with getting em sounding large, and then when you can do this put your skills at getting a 'nice' mix and making things sound big and filthy togethor...

do lots and lots of eqing and resampling blah blah, to get away from that horrible 'drum machine and a synth' vibe

[Tyrisia]

Cheers guys, I've pretty much got a handle on compression, but Jim, u hit the nail on the head with the drum machine and synth bit! I've been listening to loads of stuff offa the net, and it sounds so much better/more interesting than the stuff i'm turnin out, so I'll be tryin all these tips this very evening!

Cheers again,

Will

[djTequila]

Try some distortion. I found a small amount really rounded off a rather nasty low bitrate tech-trance kit Iwas fiddling with and gave it a smoothness and groove I wouldn't have thought possible. It's now very, very techno.

The unit I used was rather unhelpfully called 'distortion' but it's the Logic own-brand. The Reason distortion unit is pointless - bounce it out and apply some with another proggy if you're forced into using it. Or run the loop through the Malstrom (set up to be used as an effect/processor) to get at that lovely saturation effect. Or use Reason 2.5 and the Scream unit. I've heard good things about/from the Fruity Loops distortion units - especially the Blood Overdrive.

In Cubase, using the Tube Warmth plug-in will give a nice, crunchy rounded sound, and the overdrive and feedback units will *really* scream.

It's often a good idea to use subtle distortion on many parts in your track, to give character and feel. Either creating a definite sense of identity using just one unit over, or adding fullness by getting the characteristics of many different units into one track. Use only a little drive - a few percent - for this. Unless you're writing acid techno.

Tequila

[The Divide]

I love the quadrafuzz plugin. Also check out ohmforce - preditohm. Distortions great!! I also like the soundforge one (with the grid)

[Tyrisia]

Cheers guys, that's all dead helpful too. I've bought an Akai filter unit for distortion, sounds great! Overdriving me valve compressor sounds ace too, and i've discovered ohm force fromaghe, best free plugin in the world! QuadraFuzz is dead good, discovered that when moved to SX from Logic, and try Reaktor's 1 bit module over snares and stuff, that's my tip...