On this tutorial, we’re going to construct a harmonic-rhythmic pad with quite a lot of sounds by way of one among Spitfire Audio’s most progressive software program devices – BT Phobos. Plus, we get to play with a preset boldly known as ‘Cranium F**okay’. What’s to not like?
On this tutorial we’re going to revisit a blast from the previous; Spitfire Audio’s BT Phobos made in collaboration with BT Phobos. It’s been out for 5 years a passing of time that’s seen Trump turfed out of the White Home, a world pandemic, and Twitter being purchased by one the wealthiest males ever. If all that’s not sufficient to blow up your thoughts, then perhaps revisit BT Phobos as it may and can. It’s versatile and highly effective and completely worthy of a revisit.
The prolific instrument builders partnered with the BT in 2017 to create one among Spitfire’s first digital music-oriented libraries. Up to now, it continues to carry up properly.
BT Phobos was, and nonetheless is, one among Spitfire Audio’s most intricate plugins, with the software program introducing the idea of ‘polyconvolution’ for the primary time. The polyconvolver engine permits for modulation of the plugin’s gigantic sound library by convolving as much as 4 sounds with three completely different impulse responses – individually or in tandem.
With this model of routing, the contours of a beat may be utilized to harmonic sounds and you too can convolve tonal samples with one another. The result’s distinctive pitched atmosphere and results.
BT defined the idea behind the instrument:
“A good six years in the past, I had this loopy thought — what in the event you made impulse responses that had an inherent tonality to them? And additional, what if these impulse responses had palindromic loops in them, and have been utilizing actually fascinating devices and sound design?
Then I thought, what in the event you made them so you might change their pitch, and what in the event you turned that concept right into a full-blown polyphonic synthesizer, the place you’re utilizing IRs [Impulse Responses] after which feeding some sort of rhythmic stimulus into them?”
The instrument is predicated on a mix of loops and tonal sounds that may be launched with MIDI. This creates the potential of creating your personal harmonic-rhythmic presets with all types of choices for sound design.
On this tutorial, we’re going to just do that and assemble a pad utilizing the rhythmic qualities of three completely different drum loops,
Right here’s what we’ll be creating from scratch and we’ll be exploring plenty of the plugin’s completely different presets and sounds alongside the way in which! That is the mix of three separate engine layers, tweaked.
When you like what you hear, you will get BT Phobos as a part of the Black Friday Weekend Professional bundle. Purchase the entire bundle and save £796!
* Plus you get a Free Aperture Cassette Symphony if you buy the bundle in full.
The Polyconvolution Workflow
The plugin UI is sort of detailed so it’s useful to interrupt it down.
The highest 4 modules comprise sound sources. These vary from rhythmic drum and percussion loops to tonal sound results, instrument sounds, and synth samples. The entire 2,000+ sounds have been crafted by BT himself!
The loops play in excellent sync with one another at your DAW’s tempo, whereas the sustained tonal samples present a massive array of pads, textures and ambiance.
The part instantly beneath has three convolver items and the central convolution triangle, which routes and mixes the alerts into the convolvers. The numbers within the triangle characterize every sound supply and if you drag the numbers round you’re mixing within the three impulse responses named W,Y and Z.
To summarize, this implies you may have 4 sounds taking part in and interacting with three completely different impulse responses without delay in several methods.
Let’s begin with the default preset and cargo a sound into SOURCE 1 on the prime left. Whenever you click on on LOAD SOURCE 1, a search window will come up and you may select a loop from the library. The proper facet of the search window incorporates filters you should use to slim down the sounds. We’ll begin with some drums so load up the boldly named ‘SKULL F**Okay’ drum loop.
Right here’s how the loop sounds once we play a word on the keyboard:
Now we are able to get some convolution going! First, cut back the DRY to -INF to mute the drums. With the WET quantity nonetheless up, the sign will nonetheless be despatched to the beneath polyconvolution part.
Now load up a sound within the W Impulse Response module. We’ll go for the ‘Ling Wash’ choral pad preset. Our drums’ rhythm will decide the character of the pad, as SOURCE 1 is dragged all the way in which to the highest left within the convolution triangle. Write in a fast MIDI chord development to check the sound.
Right here’s how the pad sounds with the settings left as is:
You’ll be able to hear how the drums’ four-to-the-floor beat is giving a rhythmic character to the sound! Now you may change the pitch of the Impulse Response and the amount envelope.
Simply for example, we’ll elevate the pitch in W by an +12 semitones (one octave) and create a extra plucky envelope by bringing down the maintain within the ADSR envelope.
Layering A number of Rhythmic Pads
Now we’ll go away the W part as is and repeat the method twice extra. To do that, load up two extra drum loop sound sources and two extra pad-style impulse responses.
For SOURCE 2, use THE BATMAN loop and for SOURCE 3 add in THE ROLLER loop. Right here’s how these sound respectively:
It’s vital that each one three drum loops we’re utilizing are emphasizing completely different rhythmic notes for variation.
For IR’s Y and X load up the CELLULAR AUTOMA and PADING presets respectively. Within the central convolution triangle drag ‘2’ to the highest left nook, ‘3’ to the highest proper nook, and ‘1’ to the underside nook. With this setup SOURCE 1 impacts Y, SOURCE 2 impacts W, and SOURCE 3 impacts X – with no crossover!
If the numbers weren’t all the way in which within the corners then the sound sources would begin to have an effect on the opposite IR’s as properly. You’ll be able to automate the positions of the numbers within the triangle to get some loopy modulation going, however we’ll save that for a future tutorial!
Re-pitch Y by +24 st and X by +12 st , so that each one three of the pads play completely different octaves. Subsequent, decrease the maintain of all three W ,Y and X ADSR’s. Extra plucky envelopes reply higher to the rhythmic enter from the sound sources. Lastly, use the HPF knobs to filter out among the lows in every IR.
Right here’s how W, Y and X sound in solo with a two chord C Minor 7 / C Minor 7 (add 9) development:
Right here’s how they sound altogether after which with a beat:
Secret Sauce!
There are a ton of different options to delve into, similar to utilizing the interior LFOs to control parameters.
The underside part could be very helpful for extra busy patches, as you may set completely different MIDI word ranges for triggering every of the 4 sound sources and three impulse responses.
To take a look at these options and discover out extra about BT Phobos, head to Spitfire Audio.
Spitfire at present have an enormous Black Friday Weekend sale and it can save you massive on plenty of devices together with BT Phobos aas par of the Black Weekend Skilled Bundle for £499.
BLACK WEEKEND PROFESSIONAL contains:
- BT Phobos
- Orbis
- Spitfire Symphonic Strings Evolutions
- Hauschka Composer Toolkit
- Woodwind Evolutions
Plus you get a FREE Aperture Cassette Symphony if you buy the bundle in full. You’ll be able to see that right here.
A FREE LIBRARY FROM SPITFIRE! YES PLEASE!
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