Rack/Chain Fun - Crossfading Between Effects

Hi all,
This post talks about a cool feature I needed and found a way to solve.
I wanted a way to cross fade between effects and didn't want to use sends.
I decided to go with racks , since I've already seen cool demos of switching between effects using chains, I decided to try and crossfade between them.

Lets get started!

First of all, let's put a nice pad on the floor playing a I-IV progression. I chose Operator->Synth->Pad->5th Pad and put a 2 bar loop of a C note and an F note:

Now let's drag an Auto Filter after the whole operator chain mess and group it (right click the auto filter bar and press group):



Rename the first chain to "Pulsing" and add another two chains - "Down Step" and "Clean". Drag another auto-Filter into the "Down Step" chain:



What we have now are three different channels to choose from - two effects and one clean one.
Now press solo on the first chain ("pulsing") and create a nice pulsating sound using the frequency settings of the autofilter:



Now solo the second chain ("down step") and create another linear frequency effect. I put the filter on Hi Pass mode with an initial filter of 4.8khz and a Q of 2.26 for a cool resonance effect.



and put on a nice envelope for a down step feeling:



So now we have 3 channels in one, A nice pulsating effect, A cool down step and a clean channel. Let's create three 64 bar,unlinked envelopes on the mixers of each chain: start with a clean effect, move on to the pulsing and finish it off with the down step. Remeber to unsolo the chains and unlink the envelopes:








Now sit back,press play and let the next two minutes sweep over you :)

Wanna contribute a cool tip?
email me : fireballgames AT hotmail DOT com
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Add me as a friend on myspace!
Cheers
J

The making of Calliope MK I - DIY in the rough

Here's an off-topic post :D

Ever on the lookout for exercises in futility, I've decided to build my own midi controller for Ableton Live.
What I wanted was a way to trigger loops and sounds without using my laptop. I got some cool ideas snooping around on the internet and decided to build my very own DIY midi controller.

I always find it hard to decide what I want for my birthday. This year the choice was easy, Arcade Buttons!
My Mom and Brother bought me 52 really cool arcade buttons and thus the project began.

I have an old Fatar midi keyboard I never use so I decided to take the plunge. I took it apart and found out how to cause MIDI events

After a million hours of connecting wires and checking that everything works it was time to build the chassis.
I asked my dad for some help here (carpentry not being my forte) and we set to work drilling holes .

Next we put the buttons in

Wiring it all together

And here is the completed project (more pictures and videos coming soon):





Wanna contribute a cool tip?
email me : fireballgames AT hotmail DOT com
Feel like being a good sport?
Add me as a friend on myspace!
Cheers
J