Beat Lab Exclusives

LFO Tool Presets for Ableton Shaper (Free Download)

LFO Tool Presets for Ableton Shaper   To celebrate Ableton Live 10 release we’re giving away a free pack of presets for the new Shaper Max for Live devices included in Ableton Suite.   The Shaper tool is a smart LFO that allows you to draw custom waveshapes to modulate anything. Simply click the map button and then hit any knob, fader or button you want in Ableton. You can even map it to plugins.   This device reminded us the wonderful LFO Tool plugin from Xfer Records (makers of Serum).   The first thing we did is recreated all the presets that are included with the LFO tool to use inside the Shaper.     This will give you tons of Side Chain curves, modulation patterns and other experimental shapes to play around with.   Try to map it to volume, filter cutoff, pitch, wavetable position, pan or anything …

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Free Mellotron Choir Instrument Rack | Beat Lab Exclusive

The mellotron is now a classic, vintage instrument that made its mark on legendary tracks like The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and David Bowie's "Space Oddity". The instrument had a spacey and haunting vibe that hadn't been heard before in the 1960s. It behaved like a pre-cursor to our modern samplers as well. Sound was created by a section of magnetic tape connected to the keys that would playback when a key or keys were depressed, and playback would then stop when the keys were released. This allowed for a variety of sounds depending what instrument or sound was recorded onto the magnetic tape. The mellotron was designed to replicate the sound of the original instrument, but replaying a tape created minor fluctuations in pitch and amplitude.

So a note sounded slightly different each time it was played. How hard a player hit a key affected the sound as well. Another distinction in the sound of the mellotron was that each "sampled" note was recorded in isolation and so the sound had hints of being natural and unnatural at the same time.

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5 Arpeggiator Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet

5 Arpeggiator Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet   We continue with our Ableton Effects cheat sheet series. Check out the previous cheat sheets and techniques by CLICKING HERE. The entire collection is available to Beat Lab students and alumni. Up until now we shared many techniques and cheat sheets cover the audio effects in Ableton Live. The Arpeggiator is the first MIDI effect we tackle. Because it’s a MIDI effect, it must come before an instrument. It does not make a sound on its own but only change the incoming MIDI signals. It can be a very powerful tool to create melodic sequences, basslines, arp textures and percussion phrases and fills. In the most simple form, it can even act as a note repeater. Let’s check out a few ideas of what to do with it. divider style=”clear” Instant Fills   Arpeggiator in Random Style can help you create some awesome …

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Sound Recipes #3: Future House Bass (Free Download)

Sound Recipes #3: Future House Bass   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKnVMKsbp2U   You can check out previous Sound Recipes HERE   This type of sound uses Frequency Modulation (FM) to get a plucky metallic sound.   We will use 3 layers inside an Instrument Rack: Low Mid wide FM Bass Mid-High Distorted FM Bass Sub Layer We’ll be using Operator exclusively to create all the layers of the sound divider style=”clear” Low Mid wide FM Bass By default, Operator function as an FM synth which is exactly what we want. Meaning that only Oscillator A is audible. Oscillators B, C & D do not output any sound but rather alter the sound with Frequency Modulation. It is common to use Sine waves for FM synthesis and we’ll stick with those. Turn up OSC B volume until you hear the sound change.   Now you can adjust the Envelope to be shorter to give us that pluck …

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Ableton Spectrum Cheat Sheet (Free Download)

Ableton Spectrum Cheat Sheet (Free Download) Ableton’s Spectrum Analyzer is an essential tool for mixing/mastering engineers and sound designers. It can be somewhat confusing on how and when to use this meter so we thought we would release another free cheat sheet from our complete collection that we give our students in Beat Lab’s Certification Program. The spectrum will display the frequency response of any sound. This can show us the notes that the sound plays and any frequencies that might be too loud or too quite. We can then go and use EQs, Filters, compressors and other processing tools to change the frequency response of any sound or even our entire mix. You can also use the Spectrum to compare commercial track frequency response to your own tracks to make sure you competing in quality with the tracks in your genre. divider style=”clear” You can download Spectrum cheat sheet below. Be sure …

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5 Auto Pan Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet

5 Auto Pan Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet   We coming back with another free cheat sheet and five techniques check out the Frequency Shifter Techniques here. This time we are covering the Auto Pan. Great effect not only for automatic left right movment but also side chaining, gating and phasing. This cheat sheet is part of the full collection we offer our students but, we got another free one for you (HQ PDF at the bottom of the page).   divider style=”clear” 4/4 Side Chain   Turn the Amount all the way up Turn Phase all the way down to switch Auto Pan to a Gater Sync the Auto Pan Change Rate to 1/4 Change Wavehape to Saw Turn Shape to 25% Invert Waveshape   This technique works great for 4/4 side chain. You can play with the shape to get different dynamic response. You can play with the Offset to change …

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