How To Make A Drum Kit In Ableton Live with Foley Samples
Want to follow along? You can download the samples from the STONEWIRE foley sample pack here
Video Transcript:
And welcome to the Hot Wobble YouTube channel. Today, I want to talk about how to build a drum rack in Ableton Live. And this isn't gonna be a basics kind of tutorial that's very well covered. Instead, what we're gonna be doing is building a drum rack using only Foley samples and seeing what we can do to just make it work, make a bunch of those kinds of sounds come together. And I'm gonna be using this sample pack that I just put out, it's called Stonewire. I'll put a link in the description if you wanna get it.
Basically, it's a big folder of samples in Ableton set and a bunch of pre-built stuff. I could show you that maybe at the end, but let's just get into it here. So I'm gonna open up the Stonewire pack here, which has a bunch of different types of sounds into folders, I have an open drum rack.
And the way I built all the pre-built drum kits in this collection and all those pre-built kits and stuff, it's the same process. I'm gonna show you the whole thing with no edits so you can see my mistakes and see me screw things up and have to problem solve because I think it's a good way to learn. So generally how I started this,
I usually try to build some kind of kick drum and the C1 pad down here But for my actual starting sounds, I'll just go through this and drag in a bunch of just kind of random stuff,
maybe like a couple of low sounds and then maybe this clap-like folder, I'll use sounds that I haven't really touched before. Anything without a check doesn't have an analysis file, but yeah, so that's gonna be cool. But yeah, I usually will just start by, actually, let me put this up here. I try to loosely organize these racks so there's like lower sounds here and then the higher upper percussion kind of sounds or towards the top, but I'm just not gonna think very hard about what exactly I'm dragging in
because we're gonna do a lot of stuff to make this what we want it to be, just as we go through. I took a stab at recording this last night and my streaming software did not deliver. So hopefully this time it does. I changed some settings, we'll see how it works But yeah, again, I'm not thinking too hard about what I'm doing here.
I'm just pulling stuff in
and just we're gonna make it work. That's the idea.
One of these might be good.
And then there is also a folder of one shots with all the sound design already done. But again, I wanna just show the process. That's the goal of this video here. Oh, one thing I do wanna grab is some of these tones.
It's nice to have a couple of pitched things in a kit
because then you could turn that into all kinds of stuff. I need one more. Let's go in this wood folder. Anything I haven't used, let's reuse something. That's fine. Okay, so let's see what we have here (keyboard clicking)
Turn on my volume a bit.
(keyboard clicking)
Okay.
All right, so it sounds like a bunch of Foley. Let's see.
So let me just make sure my stream's still going. We're still good. Okay.
So let's go with this or this I think that'll be my kick. That's closer to what we want this to be. Making a kick not super tricky. One thing I'll often do,
I will counter intuitively high pass
and just crank up the resonance to get some low end
happening in that kick range, like 60, 70 Hertz is nice.
Yeah, okay. Now, this needs to be shorter.
This sound more kick-like.
Not that short.
Let me make this a sampler actually.
Closer.
All right, so now what else can I do to make this more kick-like? I can let me change this.
Cool.
I'm gonna want some more EQ here.
Just to be able to control what's happening.
And also, let's get it resonating more.
Cool, and then for kicks and drums in general, I like to use the pitch envelope.
Make a quick pitch drop at the front of it.
Cool, I'm gonna roll off some high ends.
And now I need a little bit more bite at the front of it. So to do that, I'll often turn snapping off
and start right in the middle of a waveform.
Find a good spot.
I like this one.
All right, and then to get something transient, like I'm gonna add some FM.
Not that much.
♪ That sound didn't count like a kick ♪ No, okay.
Let's turn this up a little bit.
Yeah, okay, I can live with that.
What can this be? Ooh.
I like to always play with the transposition and the warping in here.
Just because you never know what this could become.
Let's see here.
Let's see what the filter can get going here.
I'm actually not, I'm just gonna high pass.
Got a bunch more sounds to do too, so keep it moving. What if we just do this?
Eh, lame.
Instead, let's do something like this.
I like to just get heavy handed with effects, to be honest.
Yeah, I could have lived with that maybe Yeah, I could come back if I want Would be cool if, hmm, what else can we do here?
That's nicer.
Something about that I like more.
Let me just throw some more EQ on here.
Yeah, okay, I can deal with that. Actually, let me try some. Is there anything cool on the sides?
Let me widen this up.
And then this is a fun trick. I'm gonna put an envelope or envelope follower on the frequency.
And then we want to put this up higher.
And I want more motion, so I'm gonna turn the gain up.
And maybe turn this gain up.
Let's flip around the range. So I'm gonna put this at 50 something and this at 100.
Yeah.
Cool.
Yeah, okay.
And then what if I do, I go back to the mid field,
hit map and put this on the frequency of
of this.
Yeah, this is interesting.
Just turn it up so you hear more.
Something like that.
Keep that from going all the way to 100.
And then start at lower. Yeah.
Yeah, okay This is a thing.
I like this before.
The higher value. What if I stretch it?
Nah.
We're leaving it right there.
Cool So we have a kick and this thing. Let's keep going. Try to move a little faster here.
So this is a tonal thing. How's my stream doing? Still good. Okay. I do not want this to fail as it did last night.
We're gonna do this.
And then I'm gonna bump up the gain.
Let's see what we got. What can manipulate this in a fun way?
Where's my green delay Sometimes I know what I'm looking for, but it takes me a second to find the word Does that makes any sense?
You go with a shorter delay time.
This texture.
Or it.
Okay.
Yeah, that's kind of cool.
And then I'm also trying to, this kind of fits the bill. I'm trying to make stuff that has like a varied stereo image.
All right. This is almost the same kind of sound. This isn't super different. I'm just gonna change the start time.
And let's try to do something really different with this. So maybe instead of it being like a high-endy sort of thing I'm gonna put an EQ on it. With this little behave.
I'm gonna roll off some high-end. If I transpose this down.
Yeah. Okay. This is cool.
And then I'm gonna go with a very modulated echo.
I love that sound.
Maybe not that much. I'm actually gonna compress this together.
I don't want notes, not dotted rhythms.
That could be cool.
Okay. I'm gonna live with this. Next sound. That can be just a shaker. We want.
But let's high-pass this.
All right. Let's play with the texture again.
I'm actually gonna change this to this sampler. And I'm gonna slightly modulate the start point of this. Need to turn retriggering off. Make this random.
And then sample offset.
Excuse me. So sorry.
Anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. So that's just not, I just don't want that starting at the exact same place every time.
Sounds more interesting that way. And now I'm actually gonna, I'm gonna do a little bit of a re- And now I'm actually gonna FM this a little bit. Just put this.
Maybe not that much. Or maybe put it higher.
Just add some at the start of it.
Let's just see.
Oh wait, no it's not. No, it needs to. I'll show you that in another sound. Something longer.
Okay.
Maybe this.
Maybe this is the one to try that trick.
Oh, I'm gonna do this.
And then let's say filter.
Loop. Oh, let me loop the sample too.
No, it's too much.
Where's my transpose?
I actually like that better.
Nah.
I'm not gonna do this.(...) Sorry.
Yeah, that was just about it, yeah.
Do this instead.
Could I make that more of something? What can this be? No, I could use something.
Slappy like that.
How about this?
Try it here.
This might work better.
Nah, I'm just gonna go a totally different direction here.
No, I will try to get that trick in here somewhere. But what can we do instead?
Transpose.
Cool, let's try the shifter. Just totally change it.
Cool.
And then I'm gonna use the envelope follower to modulate that.(...) Because I liked what I was hearing as I was turning this.
So we're gonna move this here and then just flip the range again.
That's cool, okay.
I like what that's doing.
Alright, so let me just try these other modes.
Now this is cooler.
Do we do this?
Nah.
Now we're leaving it. Alright, let's keep going.
This is... We could go a couple directions with this.
If we do this and then loop over it.
I'm gonna get rid of this.
Oh god, sorry, sorry.
Alright, it's not quite so bad. This is not sustaining.
Maybe we try this trick here.
[tapping]
Take an LFO,(...) put that here, map it to the decay.
[tapping]
Let's see what we can get out of it. [tapping]
And then let's go back here.
Then maybe something like this.
My stream's still going. We're at 22 minutes, okay. Thanks for hanging in there, folks.(...) If you're still watching, you're a real one.
[tapping]
[tapping] [tapping]
That's cool. That's cool.
Alright, yeah, I'm just... I mean, the way I like to do this anyway is I'll just... I'm just looking for something that's musically interesting.(...) [tapping] [tapping] [tapping]
[tapping]
Cool, and I'm going to roll a little bit of high-end off that just because it's a little... a little grating.
But I like what's happening there. Come on. This Apple mouse is kind of killing me. It doesn't behave very well. Don't get the Apple mouse. It's not great.
[tapping] Yeah, okay, cool.
Nice.
[tapping]
[tapping]
I guess I could do it here too.
I wasn't thinking.
That's better.
I like that better.
[tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping]
[tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] Actually, since that's interesting in a couple of ranges,(...) I'm going to try another LFO.
I'm going to map this to the frequency and make it random.
[tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping]
Maybe not that high.
[tapping] Maybe not the very lowest.
[tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] Hmm. [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] Yeah, that's cool. Okay. [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] [tapping] Yeah, I like it. [tapping] I already got that. Let's keep going. Oh, there's this sound.
[tapping] Let's go with a big reverb. I want to use the hybrid reverb. [tapping] Cool. And then maybe springs are fun.(...) [tapping] And then for the algorithm.
[tapping] [tapping] Let's do this.(...) We'll use this trick. Expression control.
And then random. Then map. And then map this to the algorithm.
So now.
Every time we play,(...) the algorithm changes.
( thumping )
Do I want to change something else too? Probably.
What would be cool?
Umm...
( thumping )
I like this up high. Can I map this to the pitch? Yes.
Sick. Alright, I just don't want this to go super low. ( thumping )
I also want to filter out some of the lowest frequencies just because...
( thumping ) Those are crowding things.
( thumping ) Umm, let's put an arpeggiator on this too.
( thumping )
I put this before this though.(...) ( thumping )
Yeah.
There we go.
( thumping ) So every time a note comes out of this arpeggiator, it's going to change... It's going to hit this expression control which changes stuff.(...) It's changing the pitch and the algo for the algorithm for the reverb. ( thumping )
That's cool.
( thumping )
Alright, nearly there. Okay, this video is getting kind of long, but I want to get through all the sounds and then program them. So, let's see if I can just pick up the pace here. ( thumping )(...) This sounds like a contender for warping.
Texture.(...) Double it.
( thumping )
Can I map this grain size to stuff? I don't think so.
Umm, I'll try it anyway.
Let's see.(...) Come on. Map. Grain size. Won't do it. Sucks. Okay, never mind.
( thumping ) I will use a grain delay instead. Close enough.(...) Alright.(...) Grain delay.
( thumping )
Do this.
( thumping )
Now,(...) let's modulate the grain delay.
Map time.
( thumping )
( thumping ) I'll leave that. I'm cool with that.
( thumping ) This can be...(...) I'm gonna make this shorter.
Do I?
Yeah, okay.(...) This can just be one of my short sounds.
( thumping )
And then I'm gonna modulate the filter.
( thumping )
So it's not the same every time.
Yep, okay, another one of these.
So, uh...
( thumping )
Okay, I'm gonna put that there. What would be interesting? Ah, Corpus, why not? Why not? This is gonna totally change things, but I'm okay with it. ( thumping ) Now what would be good? A tube.
( thumping ) Okay.
( thumping )
Maybe if I take the expression control again,
map this to something.(...) I'm gonna try some of the other modes here. Membrane.
( thumping )(...) That's more interesting to me. ( thumping )
Maybe, I don't know. What else we got? Plate.
( thumping )
Let's go back to tube.
( thumping )
Maybe let's do that.
Um...
Let's do...(...) We'll slide get it. We want to change the radius.
( thumping ) No.
( thumping )
Let's go to...
( thumping )
Maybe, I don't want to do random.
( thumping )(...) No.(...) ( thumping ) Alright, let's do...
No, let's do incremental.(...) ( thumping ) I'm not the radius.(...) ( thumping ) I'm gonna turn up the amount.(...) ( thumping ) We started high and we're gonna go low.
( thumping ) ( thumping )
( thumping )
Maybe if we go over a bigger range and do it linearly.
( thumping ) I just want to hear change. That's really it.
( thumping )
I got interesting, quickly.
( thumping ) Um...(...) ( thumping )
That's cool, I just don't want it to be that loud.
( thumping )
Okay, why not? I'll rock with it. I can always come back and change it.
Let's get to my last four samples here. This will just be another...
short sound. I'd need to do basically nothing with this. That works as like a hi-hat kind of thing. Just as is. Okay.
Dream is still going.
( thumping ) Same trick as before.
Except...
Let's modulate pitch a little bit. Filter a bunch.
And panning.
( thumping ) It moves around.(...) That's an effect I always enjoy. ( thumping ) I'll turn this off so it doesn't switch around on me.
( thumping ) That's basically the same sound.
( thumping )
How can we do something different? Maybe this is finally when I get to use this modulation trick. ( thumping ) This looping envelope thing.(...) ( thumping ) Finally.(...) We will loop over it. ( thumping )
So I am going to modulate the time that decay for sure. ( thumping ) Whoa.(...) ( thumping )
No one. All right. And we're back. Live just totally dropped out on me.
Might do it again. We'll see.
( thumping ) But anyway,(...) we'll see if OBS keeps behaving. It appears to be... Okay. ( thumping )(...) I was trying to roll off some high end.
( thumping ) Okay.(...) Do this.
( thumping )
Let's throw some resonators at this.
If it will load,(...) let's go.
( thumping ) I want to also map this to probably pitch.
We'll do it. There we go. ( thumping )
Weird thing. Okay. I'll allow it.
This is fine.
( thumping )
Nice.(...) And the last... I don't know what this is.
( thumping )(...) It's a wood block.
( thumping ) All right. Let's just roll with that. I'm going to program something quickly so you can see all this in context.
One thing I like to typically do is I'll try to program a beat and use every sound at least once just so you can get an idea of what that's like. ( thumping ) Okay.
( thumping )
And if it sounds like this,(...) like these hi-hat things, sometimes I'll just do this and then turn down the probability on some of them so they don't always happen.
That's one of the cool things that live can do.
And let's just see how this sits.
( thumping )(...) Okay.
( thumping ) ( thumping ) Ooh.
( thumping ) ( thumping ) ( thumping ) ( thumping )
[drumming] [drumming] That's funny.(...) I don't know how usable that sound is gonna be. I might change it. We'll see.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming
What haven't I used?
[drumming] No.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Move here.
[drumming](...) What if I do this?
[drumming] Or instead maybe just one long one.
[drumming] There we go.(...) I'm gonna put that here.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] And then maybe this.
[drumming]
Okay, so let's fix some things here. This wood block I want to change something. I want the pitch to change, so I'm just gonna LFO it. [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Maybe not go quite that low.
[drumming]
Yeah. [drumming]
Alright, what other sounds have I not used?
I got that.
This one I'm not loving.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Let's just make this weirder.
And also have a spectral resonator.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming]
[drumming] Maybe that.
[drumming] Make these longer.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Okay.
Let's just drag a couple of these down here.
Maybe the way to do that.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Mmm.
[drumming] [drumming] That sucks. That's just not good.
That's just not working.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] That's better.
[drumming]
Let me start the sample earlier. [drumming]
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Okay. Better.
I think the sounds are still being used. Yes. [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming](...) Okay.
I use this.
[drumming]
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] Put this over here.
[drumming]
All right. That's something. Not like the greatest beat I've ever written, but the next thing I will usually do, and then we'll wrap this up, is I like to put a drum buzz on it.
[drumming] [drumming] I should turn this down.
Open this up mostly.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming](...) The other thing I like to do is you can use this boom as like a faux 808 kind of thing.
[drumming] And the way I do that is you go here, or excuse me, you go into the clip and then you go into the envelopes and then boom, frequency,(...) and you can automate.
See here.
[drumming]
Something like this.
[drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming] [drumming]
Yeah, and there we go. There's a beat made out of fully sounds. I'm not sure if, like I said, that was the greatest thing I've ever written, but there's the whole process from start to finish. Let me hit save.
If you want to get the entire pack, I'll show you where that's available.
Stonewire, yeah. If you get this collection of sounds, glitchmagic.com,(...) let me just open up the,(...) oh, the set.
Okay, there we go, yeah.
You will be able to get this whole thing and then there's some built-in lessons that take you through some of the devices, how to save stuff.
Just a couple of suggestions. This Karplus Strong rack I built, it's pretty cool. There's a lot of tools for that.
If you have questions, comments, feedback,(...) hello at glitchmagic.com or DM us on Instagram at glitchmagic.
Until next time, you can do the YouTube stuff, like, subscribe, leave comments. That's all great things.
I'll see you the next one. Cool. Peace.
