Ambient Drone Pads

As a request coming from the forumboard, I am just going to skip the drumming part (which I initially intended to do). In this case I first want to stand still at the pads used in Drone music. Drone music is refered to a minimal genre that often is build up by pads. Sometimes a few instruments are playing in the background (like vibraphones or short picked tones), but the idea behind is to make the sequences long and monotomic at some point. Due to that the sequence itself is pretty much monotomic, the main trick into ambient drone music does not lie in the sequence itself, but in the instruments that are being used. In this topic I want to stand still at the parts of the ambient drone pads. Might I also point out, I am not an expert on this genre, however, I will give some guidelines that might help you to get things going and build from there on.

The main elements

To sum up the main elements one would need to get a pad going in the Ambient Drone universe one would need a few things:

- Layering
- Dynamics
- Effects

Step 1 Layering

Lets start of with the first part, and go from there. Layering is a technique that I often have been discussing. It usually starts with a single oscillator, then bringing in a second one, and then one can start adding additional devices. Since it is all about stacking stuff inside the rack, one would probably prefer a Combinator patch to make a pad of this magnitude. In most cases I start of bringing in a mixer 14:2. Reason why I prefer the 14:2 over the 6:2 is that the signal strength of the devices attached to them come out more accurate (visual wise). It is not the additional Aux system I am interested in in most cases.

So lets start of with that. Add combinator, attach mixer inside the combinator and we would have the following starting point.

At this point there is nothing special about it. From this point on we could start choosing our synth as a basis. Personally I prefer the Malstrom or Thor in this case, since they are more versatile when it comes to the inital pad build up. In a later stage one could add subtractors to fine tune the layers and such. But then again, it probably depends on what the preferences are. One could stack up a bunch of subtractors to get the same effect.

To start up, I am going to use the Malstrom. Since it sound is often a bit thin, and that is what one would need at this point. Something not fully present since we are going to fix those issues in a later stage. As a wavefrom, I am picking the additive Wave 2 in this case. Since it is pretty light and bright. Other wave forms that one could use as a basis would be: the basic analog, square, saw, triangle, sine, the male choir (for something more deeper) and the additive wave (which are awesome for dynamics). There are probably tons of other waveforms to pick from, but I will just keep it short.

By decreasing the motion of the additive Wave 2 it will shape the sound differently. The main problem with the additive wave is that it often does not sound right. Its native note is C3, and everything above or below in octaves it starts to sound messy. By reducing the motion of the additive Wave, it already gives it a more synthetic feeling to the sound surroundings. And with Ambient Drone pads, that is something most definitly you want to go for... because it should not really represent a realistic sound.

To initially set up the second oscillator one could use the same motion ssetting, or make a minor difference. In the initial case I am going for I have set the motion for OSC A on -23, so having the OSC B on motion -21 or -25 would be a good thing to do. Since this makes the sound just a tiny bit more 'detuned', but using a different approach. Second we can re-arrange the tune settings of the 2 different oscillators, where one goes up, the other goes down. That is your basic detuning setup.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup1.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup1.mp3

At this point the biggest problem is the starting point of the additive wave. Since it starts with a pretty big hightone and then becomes more subtle. I think it depends on the flavor, but to fix certain issues with the waveforms one could go through the index of the malstrom and try to find the starting point of the samples to play. With some waveforms the index does not have a big impact, only with the waveforms that constantly change over time (with is the case with wave forms such as the additive wave, thunder, metal cans and so). I have set the index to 36 with both oscillators, eventually the start point will change since we are going to change the envelopes as well.

To make the ambient pad more effective one could setup an amplitude envelope with the following:

- attack pretty high up
- decay, all the way up
- sustain, all the way up
- release, pretty much high

Which would look like the following setup:

This will mean that the volume slightly kicks in over time, and when the note releases, it takes along time to fade away. It does not really mater that the notes are overlapping with eachother. That is, at somepoint, the key to this type of music. But please make sure: to check the polyphony count! Problem with long release is that the polypony will increase while doing it. So, if I would play a 3 finger chord session, and place a 3 finger chord session after it, it will mean that the polyphone count at that specific moment is 6, and not 3. Also make note, the more polyphony you have the more CPU usuage it takes to blend all the different sounds. A safe spot, while using 3 finger chords, have the polyphony count set on 9.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup2.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup2.mp3

So at this point we have started to layer our initial sound, but... we are not done quite yet. At this point one might find that there are cetain tones pretty much present while playing a single long note. It kind of becomes pretty much present when looping it and listening to it over and over again. That is also one of the keys with ambient music and the time consuming parts with it. When listening long enough, you will find certain elements inside the pad become to much present, and such elements don't belong there. With the additive wave I made, it is something that goes low and it goes like "ta du ta du ta du".

One method to find the Frequencies of what is causing this issue is to add an EQ and then increase the frequency... (ehm what?!)... By adjusting the Frequeny knob accordingly (from high to low, it makes it easier to find that specific tone that is causing the annoying ta du da du sound.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup3.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup3.mp3

Using the EQ on its max is often a technique I use to find the problem areas, since it gets really noticable when increasing a band and float around the different Frequencies while looking for the problem tone.

It get annoying doesn't it... Since we are here to fix the issue one could easaly get rid of that annoying tone by decreasing the EQ of that specific band.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup4.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup4.mp3

Okay, at this point I think we have setup our initial layer nicely. Next part is the dynamics. If you wandering right now why I am not adding new layers yet... hold that thought.

Step 2 Dynamics

Because ambient drone music is often subtle in changes, you probably want to create the changes inside the patch that go subtle. While the additive wave form is already pretty dynamic by itself, it could always use a minor touch up for the dynamic parts to increase. Some ideas that often go through my head when it comes to dynamics and the malstrom are items like the following:

- Modulate the filter
- Modulate the Volume
- Modulate the index
- Modulate the shift

Modulation is basicly the same as attaching an LFO to any specific parameter (just in case you are using Thor). It comes down to changing a parameter while the tone progresses. However, the trick with ambient drone pads is: do it subtle. You probably want to keep the tone changes long as in 8/4 long, or even better yet... not have them tempo syncronized at all. Since that is what makes it more dynamic. If you have for instance a beat in your ambient track that subtle goes thumbling in the background then it is even better to have the mod A/Mod B with no tempo sync.

To focus on the filter parts, one could turn them on and use LowPass (LP12), BandPass(BP12) or Notch. Ok, the malstrom does not have a notch by default... But we can fix that. It depends on what kind of layer you are working with. Ambient basicly focusses on mostly everything... the lows, mids and highs. In this case, I will call this the mid layer. Since its tone is already much present there. So using LP12 in this case would be ideal.

To find the right frequencies really fast, we could use a Rate setting which is pretty high, use a bit of Frequency changes to find the right spots.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup5.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup5.mp3

You will notice, while the frequency goes down, that it does not have much impact on the filter what so ever in the beginning stage. Yet, while the frequency goes down, it becomes more noticable. This is probably why in this case, having the LP12 set around 60-80 would work probably best. Now that we found the right frequencies and such to tweak with the modulation, the next thing we can do is decrease the ModB rate, remove the automation and set the frequencies accordingly.

Next stop would be changing the volume. While we do have a ModB and a volume parameter, one could easaly use that same setting. However, since we want to make it more dynamic in this approach, it would be wise to flip the rack around and attach a second LFO parameter that only controls the volume modulation.

The output volume of the second malstrom is not being used. It is just there to be an LFO. The ModA parameter is connected to the Level, which is simular as having a ModB using the volume setting. By decreasing the Level knob just a bit, we can determine how much the level goes up and down. Since we don't want to really over do it just yet, I am setting it to just a tiny bit (17). So this means the level changes gradually... not too much.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup6.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup6.mp3

Step 3 Effects

Now that we have most of the basic elements for this single malstrom up and running, we can start layering all the different effects.A few good once would be: reverb, delay, chorus, phaser and detune. Ambient pads are probably one of the few instruments where I don't use the Scream 4, nor distortion (huh?! there's something you don't see me typing everyday). Since the pad is already pretty much long on the release, the reverb should be subtle. However, one can use both the dry and wet signal to make the changes. This is a method I personally prefer and it requires only 2 things. 1. A Spider audio, 2 a Reverb.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup7.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup7.mp3

The really tricky part lies with in the RV7000 in this case. Since it is just a reverb... however, one use the same dry signal from the malstrom (read, spider audio) and attach that to as many devices as we can. In this case I have hooked up the dry signal to the main mixer of the combinator inside Channel 1. The reverb goes in channel 2. However, we could create a second RV7000, and attach it to channel 3. Using a different Reverb and then seperate channel 2 and 3 by using panning. This is one method to go for, and it works really well. However, the cool part about the RV7000 is that it also allows us to shape the EQ of the reverb. So in a way we could apply stereo seperation on reverb level... Sounds confusing... I know, lets just take this one step at a time.

First we take the current RV7000 we have in our song. To enable the EQ on the reverb, we need to select "EQ Enable" (highlighted in the above picture). Since the reverb is set to wet, meaning it only uses the reverb sound, it will become really noticable what we are going to do with it. Keep that in mind. Next, we'll open the remote programmer of the RV7000 and select the EQ switch on the left panel.

\With the EQ selected, we can use it just like you would normally use a 2band EQ, or MClass Mastering unit. But again, this only has an impact on the Reverb.

So setting up an EQ like the following will mean that the reverb is controlling mostly the mid/high range. Not the Lows. We can split the signal yet again and attach the same reverb to the signal. But using a different EQ setup. Which should eventually lead up with the following setup.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup8.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup8.mp3

For our dry signal we could eventually apply a minor delay in here too... etc.. etc..

Download RNS file: Drone-setup9.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup9.mp3

Resuming the "Hold that thought part"

Before I ended the paragraph about the "layering" part, I said: Okay, at this point I think we have setup our initial layer nicely. Next part is the dynamics. If you wandering right now why I am not adding new layers yet... hold that thought.

Now the thought continues. Because what we basicly have been doing is focussing on one level of the sound, namely the mid tones. The lows are pretty much gone, the highs are somewhat present. But most of the stuff is focussing on the mids. Why I prefer to focus on the mids first is because they are most noticable. Shaping that part is kind of vital. From this point on we could stack stuff pretty high and focus on the lows and highs. Maybe add an additional mid tone and a swapping notch that ties the lows and highs together. Or go nuts like the following muppet.

Layering the Lows

For the lows I am going to attach a sawtooth*4, based from the malstrom. The nice part about the sawtooth*4 is that it uses a minor sound modulation inside the sound itself. So having a minor motion going on would again be ideal in this case. Since the this patch is focussing mostly on the lows one might bring in a LP12 in this case with the frequency pretty low. For the amplitude envelope it is going to be the same drill.

At a certain point you would get a sound like the following as in solo.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup10.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup10.mp3

and as a complete setup:

Download RNS file: Drone-setup10-2.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup10-2.mp3

Layering the highs

For the highs we could use either a bandpass or highpass in this case. High pass would be ideal in this case, but that would require some nifty routing inside a thor patch.However, I am going to stick with a bandpass filter this time and set the frequency pretty high, so it comes close to what a high pass filter should be. The wave form is going to be more roughed edged. The sawtooth 16 should be ideal in this case.

Basicaly it comes down in to the 3 same things I have already been writing about: layering, dynamics and Effects. So, here comes another malstrom.

The main idea I am going for with this setup is that the octave is setup with one octave higher. The other 2 were reduced with one octave. This makes the sound more distinctive since it is more high pitched. By using the Bandpass, with a minor modulation, it starts to sweep in pretty. The attack is just a bit higher, so it takes a little longer before the high tones start to take effect.

Download RNS file: Drone-setup11.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup11.mp3

The Bridge Layer

From this point on we have 3 different layers. Each sound has its own purpose. It kind of sounds pretty harmonic in a way. Sometimes, one could need a 4th layer. This is what I refer to as the bridge layer. It connects the 3 together and hops over from one layer to another. The phaser unit is ideal in this case, or using a notch filter that goes up and down, covering the highs and low frequency.

If you are going for a phaser unit, keep the original sound clean. Analog sounds usually work best in combination with the phaser when it comes to its harmonics. Having it subtle in the background will probably not have much of an impact. But knowing it is there is half of it. Taking the sound away, you will probably go like "huh?! Where did that sound go?!". And that is the key with layering the sounds.

So, in a nutshell... it comes down to the following example file

Download RNS file: Drone-setup12.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup12.mp3

Or when you want to go for the notch version instead:

Download RNS file: Drone-setup13.rns
Download Mp3 file: Drone-setup13.mp3

Anyways... I think this topic kind off sums up the process of creating ambient drone pads. Just keep in mind, one could keep things simple just by creating just one layer, but the more layers you use, and the more dynamics one would create, the more interesting the pad can become. Since these kind of pads become rather long in length, layering will be the key to success on this part. Hopes this helps, and see yah next week!