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Table Of Contents
The figure shows the settings of Oscillator 2 and Env 1.
6 Experiment with different Slope and Asym values to impart a more or less electronic
character to the sound.
7 Turn on the noise generator and control its volume with the same quick envelope used
in Osc 2 Volume.
8 Use the filter parameters of the noise generator to roughen up, refine, or add bright
frequencies to the noise component of the snare drum sound. Select an LP filter type,
and try a filter frequency between 0.60 and 0.90. Modulate it with LFO 1, which you’re
already using to control the pitch of Oscillator 2.
Note: The snare drum sound is listed as snare 1” in the Tutorial Kit, at a pitch of E1.
To refine the snare drum sound using FM synthesis
1 Turn on Oscillator 1 in FM mode. Use Env 1 to control the volume of Osc 1 as well.
2 Choose a pitch for Oscillator 1 thats about an octave lower than Oscillator 2. Consciously
avoid even intervals between the oscillators and detune them slightly from each other.
For example, try a pitch setting of F#2 in Osc 2 and E1 in Osc 1, then fine-tune Osc 1 a
few cents higher by holding Shift while adjusting the Osc 1 Pitch slider.
3 Experiment with FM Amount, and add more tone (low FM Amount) or noise (more
FM Amount) as desired. Also try modulating the FM Amount with a fast LFO.
Note: An exemplary snare drum sound that uses FM can be found in the Tutorial Kit at
a pitch of F1. It is listed as “snare 2.”
Higher FM Amount values lead to considerably more overtones and a very electronic
sound character. If you want to make the sound more acoustic, feed Oscillator 1 (and
possibly Oscillator 2 as well) into the main filter. Use these settings to start: LP 24 mode,
and a Cutoff value of about 0.60.
Ultrabeat Tutorial: Recreating the TR-808 Snare
The famous 808 snare is based on two resonating filters and a noise generator, fed through
a highpass filter. The mix ratio of the two filters and the volume of the noise generator
can be adjusted. This structure cannot be 100% replicated in Ultrabeat.
309Chapter 11 Ultrabeat