Ultimate Sound Design Recipe Book Vol 3: Drums & Vocals

Learn to build drum sounds from any idea, guided by James Patrick, with snare, hi-hat, and loops demos, plus a note on Ableton drum racks for multi-sound hits.

James Patrick shows how to craft drum sounds from unusual sources using samplers and embedded drum racks, layering field recordings with one-shot and trigger modes for a groovy backbeat.

Zach shows how to sculpt transients and beater sounds in Massive, shaping the kick's attack with an envelope and a subtle glissando to craft a hard-hitting drum transient.

Design a basic electronic kick in Massive by shaping a sine wave with a transient pitch envelope and zero attack, then apply saturation for punch.

Learn how alternating multiple snare samples per hit creates a natural, evolving snare feel by rotating eight samples, with optional Ableton techniques or manual sample swapping.

Learn to craft a dynamic snare by using a custom drum rack in Ableton, selecting snare samples with a chain selector mapped to a macro for automated, expressive variations.

Map high hat velocity to create an alternating, lifelike pattern by varying velocities and subtle curves; explore sample swapping and velocity-driven editing in Ableton to achieve a human feel.

Learn the velocity hats technique to craft dynamic, expressive high hats using a multi-velocity drum rack with velocity zones and envelope shaping.

Duke Nukem demonstrates how to take a loop, chop it up, and build beats with syncopated drone base feel. He shares cool tricks for crafting footwork-inspired rhythms from loops.

Learn how to design your own drum loops by dissecting a track, isolating and rearranging snares and backing beats, reversing elements, layering, and applying effects to craft a unique sound.

Explore the iconic 808 drum machine, its punchy kick and its very specific snare, and learn to recreate 80s drum sounds for drums and vocals with clean samples and tweaking.

Zach guides you through creating his own iterates of 808 sounds by tweaking ATO parameters, exploring how switching a sine-based kick to a square wave changes the tone.

Learn to synthesize an 808 from scratch in Massive, using a low sine baseline, fast transient, monophonic glide, and distortion for a punchy, present bass in the mix.

Learn resampling drums by baking effects into audio, then chopping reverb tails to craft new drum fills and loops, demonstrated with a MIDI drum kit.

Learn flipping and chopping drums to create lively variations using reverse hits, resampling to audio, and precise editing with crop sample, stretch, and freeze and flatten workflows.

Explore why drum fills, as beat modifications, fill a gap and add energy between sections. Learn a simple, fast technique for creating fills, from subtle single kicks to varied placements.

Add a quick, subtle fill at the drum entrance using the loop end to lead in, and keep it built from sounds already in the loop for an organic feel.

James Patrick demonstrates how to create big drum fills by chopping a sample into individual hits and triggering each hit with a MIDI clip.

Learn to create drum fills by slicing a drum break in simpler mode, load audio into a MIDI track, and apply arpeggiated patterns, a randomizer, and MIDI effects.

Learn to treat vocals as percussion by chopping vocal samples and applying slice-based sound design to create drum-like effects, including a flute example from a guest artist.

Discover where to find vocal samples and why licensed libraries give you rights to chop and use them in your tracks; search for vocal stems for free options.

Explore how to craft a gritty, evil vocal with a vocoder, noise, and compression. See how the pre evil sound transforms into a darker, more menacing texture.

Joe Whitling demonstrates clipping vocal processing on a voice recording. He includes warp complex mode, eq, vocoder, compression, gate, grain delay, and stereo imaging to craft a textured final vocal.

Discover a chopping trick demonstrated on a flute sample that also works well for vocals, by slicing the sample and triggering it across the track.

Learn to sculpt texture from flute and vocal samples using a sampler chain, with reverb, high-pass filtering, Echo Boy delay, pitch wobble, gain boosts, and Max Gerlof elephant modulation.

Turn vocalisations into percussion by recording mouth sounds, placing them in a sampler, slicing, and triggering multiple notes. This technique speeds up production by turning vocal sounds into percussion.

Explore a vocal chop method in Ableton, slicing mouth sounds in Simpler, creating an arpeggiated rhythm with RPG and chords, then shaping with EQ, compression, chorus, delays, and limiter.

Explore future content on effects and miscellaneous tricks as part four of the drums and vocals sound design recipe book, featuring mastering, synthesis, and back-pocket techniques.

Express gratitude for joining the sound design recipe book class. Celebrate that teaching is the best way to learn and invite you to explore more classes.