polarity_music

Kick Drums in the Grid, phase aligned (precise!)

Added 2024-04-12 11:46:20 +0000 UTC

In a recent tutorial on creating kick drums in Bitwig using the Grid, a method was introduced to maintain the tail end of a kick drum consistent despite changes in the pitch envelope. This technique is similar to one I've shown before using a kick drum plugin. Here's a summarized step-by-step breakdown of the process:

Setup Basic Components: Begin with a sine oscillator, add segments for the pitch envelope, or alternatively, use an Attack Decay (AD) envelope for both the pitch and amplitude modulation for simplicity.
Output and Monitoring: Integrate an output module and an oscilloscope, with a gate input to control or reset the oscilloscope.
Initial Sound Configuration: Choose a root pitch for the kick drum, typically a low note like G0.
Modulate the Sine Oscillator: Instead of altering the pitch input or offset, the phase input of the sine oscillator is modulated with the signal output from the AD envelope.
Enhance the Initial Knock: To intensify the phase disturbance, which improves the 'knock' of the kick, multiply the modulating signal by -10.
Stabilize the Tail Phase: Enable retriggering on the sine oscillator to ensure the tail phase remains consistent regardless of changes in the pitch envelope.
Phase Alignment with Bass: If this kick drum is used alongside a bass track, ensure both tracks play the same root note (e.g., G0) to achieve identical phase alignment, leading to cohesive sound blending.

This technique allows for greater control over the attack phase of the kick drum, offering a range of sounds from soft to more pronounced, akin to hardstyle kicks. The trick ensures the tail phase of the kick drum remains unaffected by pitch changes, ideal for alignment with bass tracks in mixed compositions. This discovery, credited to KaiFu and Headhunters from the Bitwig Discord, is shared with a downloadable preset in the tutorial description for users to try out.

Preset: https://bit.ly/3JeGE6k