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Chapter 23 Ultrabeat 343
5 Change the Mod amount (the blue control) of Osc 1 Pitch again (see step 1). The
interaction of this parameter with the envelope’s Decay time provides numerous
possibilties for shaping the “kick” or “punch” of the bass drum sound.
Note: This simple bass drum sound is called “Kick 1” in the tutorial set, at a pitch of C1.
Removing Tonality
One advantage of bass drums based on sine waves is that their sound can be precisely
tuned to match the song. The disadvantage: a recognizable pitch is not always
desirable. Ultrabeat offers several methods to reduce the tonality of the sound. A very
effective tool is the 2 Band EQ.
Try the following setting:
1 Band 1 is used in shelving mode with negative Gain, high Q value and a frequency of
about 80 Hz.
2 For band 2, choose the Peak mode at a frequency of around 180 Hz, a medium Q value
and also a negative gain value.
3 On the EQ graph, you can see how the frequencies around 80 Hz are boosted, while
the surrounding frequencies are reduced.
4 Vary the frequency of Band 2 now (easily recognizable in the blue part of the EQ graph)
and you can influence the extent of bass drum tonality.
A further method for reducing the tonality of a drum sound that is rich with overtones
is to use a lowpass filter. Control the cutoff frequency of the filter with an envelope.
Please proceed as follows:
1 Reload the Default Tutorial sound, choose A#0 as the basic pitch in Oscillator 1 and
modulate it (as shown in the example on page 342) using Env 1.
2 An increase in the Saturation parameter value enhances the overtones of the drum
sound.
3 Note, that the output of Osc 1 is directed to the filter, as the Filter Bypass button (the
arrow between Osc 1 and the filter) is activated.