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Definitions on terms
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| Cuervo79 |
Hey, since I've started producing, I've had a hard time sometimes knowing what pads are I still don't know exactly what they are
(it took me about a month to know what a drum roll was) maybe its beacause of the language diference (most of the info I know I know it in spanish) anyone can help with defining terms like:
Refills, pads, loops, etc.
Or a link to these kind of words? |
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| Floorfiller |
just ask away...i'll try and answer the ones that i know...
Pad - is basically just that string type of sound. think of the background of a track that has a lot of strings in it say...Adagio For Strings...the actual string part is a pad
Loops - are basically samples. the easiest way to understand this is say you make a beat that uses a kick, a clap, and some hi-hats..or anything that you are gonna be repeating a bunch in a tune. if you recorded all of those into one sample and then used them as a group...that would be a loop...its basically just sounds that are repeated over and over in a song. most commonly i would say would be some kinda beat like i said.
Refills - i'm not 100% on this on because i don't use reason, but my understanding of it is that its basically like a preset. Basically someone figured out how to make a certain sound and then saved the settings so that others could use that sound too.
i hope i'm for the most part right about those :) |
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| MaxC |
| quote: | | Originally posted by Floorfiller Pad - is basically just that string type of sound. think of the background of a track that has a lot of strings in it say...Adagio For Strings...the actual string part is a pad |
To clarify though, a pad doesn't have to be a string. Basically any smooth evolving sound could qualify as a pad.
| quote: | | Refills - i'm not 100% on this on because i don't use reason, but my understanding of it is that its basically like a preset. Basically someone figured out how to make a certain sound and then saved the settings so that others could use that sound too. |
A refill is more than just saved settings because it includes the actual samples as well. A synth preset might be only a couple hundred KB in size, but a refill could be several hundred MB. |
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| Tranc3 |
Pads are, imo, generally warm-sounding (I'll get into that later), and typically used, for lack of a better word, as "filler," that is, they help make the composition sound more full by providing a gentle sort of background sound.
Bright sounds: The opposite of warm sounds (in some aspects).
Warm sounds: The opposite of bright sounds(in some aspects). It's really hard to describe with words - I was thinking this morning about how to describe this to someone else so I'll use an example.
A chirp from a bird would be more bright than warm - in fact the brightness almost overpowers the warmth. When I think of warm sounds, I think of a gregorian chant - lots of harmonics that lead to a very "full" sound.
"Full" or "phat" sounds: Usually retaining most or all of their harmonics (although it's possible to achieve a full sound with a good mastering engineer), these sounds take up a large part of the frequency spectrum. Think of a stringed orchestra, except that some will be playing higher notes and others will be playing lower notes in order to create a "phatter" sound. This also leads into polyphony (although technically an orchestra playing in phase [in sync...damn I wanted to avoid using that] with different notes is homophony, with synths all that matters is polyphony).
Polyphony: More than one "voice" generating sound at the same time. The synth definition of polyphony differs from the classical music definition, so I'll stick to the synth definition as that's probably going to interest you more. Let's say you have access to a synth, and the polyphony is set to "1." That means only one "voice" or "instrument" (or in this case, copy of the synth) is going to be playing whatever notes you feed it. Polyphony of 1 is the vocal equivalent of one person singing, 2 is the equivalent of a duet, etc...
Sample: A piece of sound that's been recorded and ready for manipulation by you. You need a sampler to use samples (surprise surprise!)
LFO: Low frequency oscillator. Used to manipulate the sounds already being produced by the synth (the main oscillator[s]). For example, with an LFO set to manipulate the amplitude/gain/dynamics (otherwise known as volume:)) at a rate of 2 Hz (2 cycles per second), the sound being passed through the LFO will have its' amplitude modulated twice every second. How much is dependent on your LFO settings. This can also be used in conjunction with a frequency filter (the other most common use), or anything else supported by your synth.
Hmm...I'm starting to realize that it's going to take me a hell of a long time to write up everything I know on music without getting into music theory, so howabout you just post what questions you have and we'll answer them:D |
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| Seric |
| Oh you should also know that when crazy americans keep telling you that your new track is "banging", It's a good thing. Ciao. |
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| Cuervo79 |
| LOL @ seric, thanx guys, keep the definitions going.... |
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| MrCowski |
One that took me awhile to get was PWM: Pulse width modulation
Square/Pulse Waveforms usually have a setting called Pulse width, or PW. This is a mesure of the length of the tops of the waves, such as:
[edit] ascii art didn't work.
PWM puts an LFO on the PW, in effect making the square wave have a much different sound, almost saw-like. |
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| Tranc3 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrCowski
One that took me awhile to get was PWM: Pulse width modulation
Square/Pulse Waveforms usually have a setting called Pulse width, or PW. This is a mesure of the length of the tops of the waves, such as:
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PWM puts an LFO on the PW, in effect making the square wave have a much different sound, almost saw-like. |
Best way to think of it is like this: a normal square wave will be at full strength 50% of the time and at no strength 50% of the time - just something you can gather by simply looking at the wave. What pulse-width modulation does is change the amount that's "up" or "down" in relation to the wavelength. So for example, I might use PWM on a square wave and make it a rectangle wave (actual name btw) where it's at full strength 90% of the time and not playing 10% of the time.
The practical upshot of this is the amount of harmonics included in the wave. In a square wave, you get the odd harmonics (1, 3, 5, 7, etc...), but a strong and bright sound. With a rectangle wave, you get most of the harmonics (every third, every fourth, etc...) and a weaker fundamental note (your base note). |
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| SpeakInSympathy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Seric
Oh you should also know that when crazy americans keep telling you that your new track is "banging", It's a good thing. Ciao. |
HaHa |
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