9

Enhancing the attack transients of your sound:
To get even closer to the TR-909, use an EQ setting as shown in the following figure. Note
that the low frequency pressure point around 60 Hz (in the red area on the EQ graph) as
well as the assertive punch or kick (the blue area starting at 460 Hz and up) of a 909 bass
drum are strengthened. (This EQ setting is already part of the Kick 2 setting.)
Using envelopes to change the color of your sound:
In the example, all four envelopes are being used. Take some time to play with the shapes
of the envelopes, while maintaining the attack and decay settings. Experiment with the
junction points of the decay phase in the different envelopes to familiarize yourself with
the sound-shaping options available. Start with the decay phase of Env 4, which controls
both the volume of Oscillator 1 and filter resonance, and observe how reshaping the belly
of the envelope can change the character of the sound from crisp and short to round
and full.
Ultrabeat Tutorial: Creating the Ultrabeat Kick
You can create bass drum sounds that are uniquely “Ultrabeat.” Try modulating pitch
with an LFO instead of an envelope, for example.
To create an LFO-modulated kick drum
1 Start with the Standard Tutorial sound at a pitch of A#0 (Osc 1 Pitch), and choose LFO 1
as the Mod source in the Osc 1 Pitch section.
2 Set the degree of modulation by dragging the blue Mod slider to a value of A3.
3 Set LFO 1 to a low number of Cycles (25 to 35), a high Rate (starting with 70 Hz and higher)
and a medium value for Decay (set the Ramp knob to about −190).
4 Experiment with the LFO waveform and you’ll discover that you can attain different
nuances in the character of the bass drum attack.
5 Modulate the Asym(metry) parameter with the same LFO, and also vary the Slope and
Saturation values.
307Chapter 11 Ultrabeat