Using samples and loops opens up lots of creative possibilities to producers and beatmakers, but their lack of movement can rob an arrangement of its spark. We look at one filter that brings life to static sounds in a unique way…
Pre-Processed Loops
With most DAWs offering tempo and key-aware loop-based content, producers and composers can often find themselves with great swathes of tracks ranging from entirely dry samples, to those which have been pre-treated with EQ, dynamics processing, reverb, delay or filtering. This last type of processing can be anything from static subtractive filtering on synth-type sounds, to dynamic effects that add movement and interest.
Doing It Yourself
While any baked-in effect that changes over time brings a welcome new dimension to a mix, its modulation can never ultimately bear any relation to the tempo, or indeed the key of arrangement they’re part of. One way around this could be using drier, unmodulated samples and loops. To re-introduce some dynamism, some kind of musically related processing can be done with real-time manual control of processing via a control surface, or using DAW tools to draw in envelopes that conform to the grid. Another approach could be to run through MIDI tempo-synced hardware and taking printbacks for posterity.
What About Sidechaining?
Being able to feed any dynamic processor’s detector with an external signal gives rise to the familiar effect where a dance kick into a mix bus compressor pumps the entire mix, for example. Virtually all DAWs have this functionality, either using its regular sends or dedicated sidechain sends with separate switching for pre or post fader operation; on this last point, pre-fader operation will give the most controllable result that is independent of the sidechain source’s fader automation.
Our needs for sidechained dynamics processors are well-catered for, but for sources that need sidechain modulation of their filters, the choices become more limited.
FabFilter Volcano3
FabFilter’s latest incarnation of their do-it-all filter plugin landed in November 2021, offering a number of expanded features to an already impressive inventory that significantly raises the bar when it comes to what a filter can really do. For the engineer looking to add spectral movement that agrees with the music, Volcano3 more than fits the bill. It also features the following new and improved functionality:
IMPROVED - Fully redesigned, highly simplified interface, with an easier workflow, including a new design of modulation sources and floating slot panel
NEW - Added new, vintage-sounding EQ-type filter shapes with the internal drive and non-linearities: bell, low/high shelf, notch and all-pass
Ultra-flexible filter routing, including per-channel and mid/side modes
IMPROVED - Various interface sizes and full screen mode
IMPROVED - Endless modulation options, with all the 16-step XLFOs, XY controllers, envelope generators, envelope followers and MIDI sources you will ever need
NEW - Introduced Drive setting per filter, adjusting the internal filter saturation, which allows for much more variety in sound and smoothness
IMPROVED - Improved the sound quality of overall feedback, the filters, and internal saturation
NEW - Live modulation visualization for targets and sources
NEW - High Quality option, enabling maximum internal oversampling for the best results
NEW - Level/Pan per filter, which is especially useful when using parallel filter routings
NEW - 6 dB/oct filter slope option
Stereo and mono plug-ins available
Undo, redo and A/B switch features
IMPROVED - Carefully designed and curated factory presets, plus support for earlier Volcano presets
IMPROVED - Large interactive filter display with optional piano display
Out On Its Own?
The technique in the video is just a simple example using an advanced filter to add movement to a static sound using a musically related source. The same technique could of course be used to modulate any parameter within Volcano3. Beyond that, the wider possibilities offered by Volcano3’s XLFO architecture are limited only by your imagination.
Volcano3 makes it easy to add creative sidechain modulated filtering to static loops which follows the music in ways that a conventionally automated filter could not. This is not achievable with many other filters. Added to the almost bottomless functionality of this plugin, finding Volcano3’s creative equal seems a way off yet.