What's This Sound?

[Creativemind]

Hi Everybody!

A mate of mine this evening said he remembers a sound used in a lot of pop music in the 90's and it's this sound found here at 42s like a smudgy effect sound:-

And again here:-

I wondered if anyone knew what it was. Is it a famous sample perhaps? how is it made?

Sounds to me like it could be an LFO used on a synth with that sound patch?

If anyone can shed any light on it, knows how it's made or which other songs apart from that one it may have been used it, it'd much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Billy+]

Man what the fu*k are you doing making people listen to steps lol,
Now I'm going to need to detox my ears for a month.

[Creativemind]

Man what the fu*k are you doing making people listen to steps lol,
Now I'm going to need to detox my ears for a month.

Ay, I bet they're not short of a bob or two lol!

Now back on topic lol!

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Sounds like a simple slide bass sort of sound. Like Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff with BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM - there's a similar sound in that too (first sounds at the start)

So yeah it's just a bass slide of sorts, pitch bent up then down. Grab the FP one since it's soloed, then oscilloscope it to see what type of waveform it is

[Creativemind]

Sounds like a simple slide bass sort of sound. Like Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff with BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM - there's a similar sound in that too (first sounds at the start)

So yeah it's just a bass slide of sorts, pitch bent up then down. Grab the FP one since it's soloed, then oscilloscope it to see what type of waveform it is

Similar but not quite the same.

I reckon it could be done on SubTractor actually then pitch bent as you say.

Anyone know any other examples?

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Took literally seconds to make. Quick note, which is something we've just learnt with Subtractor (and going to try with other synths too) - Legato on and pitchbend with portomento time can actually affect the speed of the pitchbend

For example, have the porto to zero, and pitchbend in instant and follows every nuance of the wheel. Now if you increase portomento, the pitchbend rate changes so you can actually stretch out pitchbend time, which is pretty damn cool and going to be some fun to now humanize pitch bending a bit more simply by adjusting both the wheel (the level of pitchbend) and the porto (the rate of the pitchbend)

Another tip - if these settings are a little too sharp, add the 2nd filte on Subtractor to smooth out the top end. It's not far off and in a mix you could get away with this being your 'own'

EDIT: will look at this patch again, and do it so you shouldn't need the pitch bend, the MOD ENV on Osc 1 pitch could be enough to set it up. Will take a look later again today

[nickb523]

A mate of mine this evening said he remembers a sound used in a lot of pop music in the 90's and it's this sound found here at 42s like a smudgy effect sound

Could be any generic slide bass but I'd wager it's from one of the JV/XV modules. Right at the start of this demo for the Bass & Drums card is super close if not the exact sound -

Either that or it's one of the Emu modules (Planet Phatt maybe?). It's got to be a preset from one of those old romplers.

[Creativemind]

Took literally seconds to make. Quick note, which is something we've just learnt with Subtractor (and going to try with other synths too) - Legato on and pitchbend with portomento time can actually affect the speed of the pitchbend

For example, have the porto to zero, and pitchbend in instant and follows every nuance of the wheel. Now if you increase portomento, the pitchbend rate changes so you can actually stretch out pitchbend time, which is pretty damn cool and going to be some fun to now humanize pitch bending a bit more simply by adjusting both the wheel (the level of pitchbend) and the porto (the rate of the pitchbend)

Another tip - if these settings are a little too sharp, add the 2nd filte on Subtractor to smooth out the top end. It's not far off and in a mix you could get away with this being your 'own'

EDIT: will look at this patch again, and do it so you shouldn't need the pitch bend, the MOD ENV on Osc 1 pitch could be enough to set it up. Will take a look later again today

D'you find that automation of pitch bend weird? I do a bit. Why isn't pitch bend a CC event like every other daw?

[avasopht]

Sounds like a simple slide bass sort of sound. Like Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff with BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM - there's a similar sound in that too (first sounds at the start)

So yeah it's just a bass slide of sorts, pitch bent up then down. Grab the FP one since it's soloed, then oscilloscope it to see what type of waveform it is

This one is quite interesting, and probably one of the most creative uses of sampling at that time.

It's a tenth of a second from none other than, ... wait for it, ... Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up. This was a time when even keyboard manufacturers would sometimes include tiny samples from other sources (which includes their competitor's keyboards) in the attack section.

You might have to listen to it a few times before finding the exact segment, but they chopped it up manually using just a turntable and the mute buttons onto a few layers and then pieced together the bits that sounded right and jazzy.

See if you can find the instrument they used. It might help to listen to it at 0.25x speed.

[raymondh]

Sounds like a simple slide bass sort of sound. Like Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff with BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM - there's a similar sound in that too (first sounds at the start)

So yeah it's just a bass slide of sorts, pitch bent up then down. Grab the FP one since it's soloed, then oscilloscope it to see what type of waveform it is

Yes exactly.
Get an analog style bass (like an SH101 patch) and run your finger up and down the keyboard quickly.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Man what the fu*k are you doing making people listen to steps lol,
Now I'm going to need to detox my ears for a month.

This one is quite interesting, and probably one of the most creative uses of sampling at that time.
It's a tenth of a second from none other than, ... wait for it, ... Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.

Rick Rolling..... LOL

[Creativemind]

Sounds like a simple slide bass sort of sound. Like Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff with BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM - there's a similar sound in that too (first sounds at the start)

So yeah it's just a bass slide of sorts, pitch bent up then down. Grab the FP one since it's soloed, then oscilloscope it to see what type of waveform it is

This one is quite interesting, and probably one of the most creative uses of sampling at that time.

It's a tenth of a second from none other than, ... wait for it, ... Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up. This was a time when even keyboard manufacturers would sometimes include tiny samples from other sources (which includes their competitor's keyboards) in the attack section.

You might have to listen to it a few times before finding the exact segment, but they chopped it up manually using just a turntable and the mute buttons onto a few layers and then pieced together the bits that sounded right and jazzy.

See if you can find the instrument they used. It might help to listen to it at 0.25x speed.

Can you give me a hint where in Ricks song it is? haha!

[LABONERECORDINGS]

D'you find that automation of pitch bend weird? I do a bit. Why isn't pitch bend a CC event like every other daw?

No not really - pitch bend is +-8192 (128 x 128), which gives much more precision than regular MIDI controls. 128 x 128 is probably least significant + most significant bit which allows for a simple +-8192 = 16384 levels, so pitch bend can use 2x 128 control values, you need to get every cent between the notes so if you have on a pitch bend of 2 then a step range of 200 cents will allow you to cover all the values easier with a +-8192 range, so it's smoother. +-24 = 4800 cents total range (4 octave) so 128 values probably sounds wank / steppy instead

Rick's the man though.... he knows his onions

[Creativemind]

D'you find that automation of pitch bend weird? I do a bit. Why isn't pitch bend a CC event like every other daw?

No not really - pitch bend is +-8192 (128 x 128), which gives much more precision than regular MIDI controls. 128 x 128 is probably least significant + most significant bit which allows for a simple +-8192 = 16384 levels, so pitch bend can use 2x 128 control values, you need to get every cent between the notes so if you have on a pitch bend of 2 then a step range of 200 cents will allow you to cover all the values easier with a +-8192 range, so it's smoother. +-24 = 4800 cents total range (4 octave) so 128 values probably sounds wank / steppy instead

Rick's the man though.... he knows his onions

But then you have to deviate to the sequencer to draw it. More convenient in the midi editor.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Doesn't bother us, because we can slip the Pitch Bend automation apart from the MIDI data if we wanted to.

Other DAWs use the same +-8192 as it's a MIDI standard. Bit more reading here if you want to go rabbit-holing
http://blog.synthesizerwriter.com/2021/ ... tency.html