Audio Effects and Controllers

Question 1

In Overdrive what does the Dynamics control affect ?

Answer 1

How much of the original sounds dynamics are retained or compressed

Question 2

In Auto Filter what is the Curcuit Mode button for?

Answer 2

Engage one of a selection of analogue-modelled filter curcuits, with the option to drive the filter

Question 3

What are the seven LFO modes in Auto Filter?

Answer 3

Sine, Saw up, Saw Down, Triangle, Square, Mono random, Stereo Random

Question 4

What catagory of Effects do Delay, Echo and Reverb fall into?

Answer 4

Time-based

Question 5

Which Control on Auto-Filter allows you add stereo information to the filter and what are the two modes available?

Answer 5

Phase adds stereo information to the filter, the two modes are Phase and Spin

Question 6

What catagory of Effects do Compressors, Limiters, Distortion and Saturators fall into?

Answer 6

Dynamics Control

Question 7

What catagory of Effects do Chorus, Phaser, Flanger and Tremolo fall into?

Answer 7

Modulation

Question 8

In Auto-Filter, what 4 pairs of filter types can be cycled through using the Morph mode?

Answer 8

LP/BP, BP/HP, HP/NO, NO/LP

Question 9

In Beat Repeat what do the Interval, Chance, Gate and Offset controls do?

Answer 9

Interval - How often the effect will trigger
Chance - how likely it is that the effect will trigger at the given Interval setting
Gate - How long the effect will be active for once triggered
Offset - controls the position in the beat that Beat Repeat will trigger

Question 10

In Beat Repeat what do the Volume, Pitch, Pitch Decay and Decay controls do ?

Answer 10

Volume changes the volume of the repeats, Pitch changes the pitch of repeats, Pitch Decay changes the pitch of the repeats over time, and Decays lowers the volume of the repeats over time

Question 11

In Beat Repeat what are the three modes for the playback of the repeats and how do they differ?

Answer 11

Mix - Combines repeated audio with original audio
Insert - Cuts-out original audio while repeats are playing
Gate - Plays only the repeats, removing the original audio completely

Question 12

In Beat Repeat what do the Grid, Variation, and Variation Modes affect?

Answer 12

Grid- sets the baseline note-value (i.e. rhythm) for the repeats
Variation - Controlls the amount of randomisation of the grid value
Variation Modes - Selects when/how grid variations are triggered

Question 13

In Ableton’s Delay what are the three modes, what do they affect and how do they differ?

Answer 13

The three modes are Re-Pitch, Fade and Jump - these affect how the tails change when the Time is changed in real-time; Re-Pitch changes the pitch of delays like an analogue delay, Fade fades the volume of the repeats when changing time, and Jump changes the delays instantly.

Question 14

What do Grain Delay’s Frequency and Spray controls do?

Answer 14

Frequency controls the size and speed of the grains of audio used for the delays, Spray randomises the delay time for each grain

Question 15

In Ableton’s Echo what do the Input control and ‘D’ button do?

Answer 15

Input add gain to the delayed signal; if you activate the ‘D’ button it will also drive the input of the dry signal

Question 16

Descibe the Function of these five Character sections in Ableton’s Echo: Gate, Ducking, Noise, Wobble, Re-pitch

Answer 16

Gate - sets a threshold so that only above this level will enter the Echo unit
Ducking - Reduces the volume of the delayed signal when the original signal is above a threshold, functioning like a side-chain
Noise - Adds noise to the signal (pre-delay, so is present in delays)
Wobble - Adds pitch instability to the delays
Re-pitch - Disables/enbles analogue-style repitching of delays

Question 17

How can Ableton’s Echo be used to create a subltle stereo chorused/modulated effect?

Answer 17

Use the Modulation Tab to set an LFO to modulate the Delay Time (labelled ‘Delay’) a small amount and offset the Phase for a stereo effect

Question 18

How can Ableton’s Echo be used to make a basic looping effect ?

Answer 18

Set the Dry/Wet to 50%, the Delay Time to max and the Feedback to around 95%

Question 19

Describe some rough settings on Echo to create a spring reverb Sound

Answer 19

Dry/wet 50%, Feedback 50%, Time 75ms (L&R synced), LPF 120Hz, HPF 1.5khz with a little resonance, plus a little Reverb

Question 20

Describe some rough settings on Echo to create a slightly flanged reverb Sound

Answer 20

Dry/wet 50%, Feedback 50%, Time 5-20ms (L&R synced), LPF 120Hz, HPF 1.5khz with a little resonance, Modulation set to Sine, Synced1/4, Phase 90degrees, a small amount of Delay (Time) modulation, plus 40% Reverb

Question 21

Describe some rough settings on Echo to create a deep flanging sound

Answer 21

Dry/wet 50%, Feedback 50%, Time 2-5ms (L&R synced), LPF 120Hz, HPF 1.5khz with a little resonance, Modulation set to Sine, 0.5-2hz, Phase 90degrees, a large amount of Delay (Time) modulation + engage the ‘4x’ button for even more resonant sounds

Question 22

In Ableton’s Pedal what does the three-way slider under the EQ section do?

Answer 22

Changes the frequency of focus for the Mid control

Question 23

In Ableton’s Pedal what does the Sub switch do?

Answer 23

Restores the Sub bass frequencies to the signal

Question 24

In Drum Buss what do the Fequency and the button below Decay interact?

Answer 24

The frequency changes the pitch of the Boom filter and the button at the bottom displays the closest musical note of that pitch and can be pressed to shift the pitch exactly to the displayed note name.

Question 25

In Drum Buss what do the Fequency and the button below Decay interact?

Answer 25

The frequency changes the pitch of the Boom filter and the button at the bottom displays the closest musical note of that pitch and can be pressed to shift the pitch exactly to the displayed note name.

Question 26

In Drum Buss is the Trim control affecting the signal before or after the Comp and Drive controls ?

Answer 26

Before

Question 27

In Auto Pan what value would you set the Phase to in order to perform volume modulation/tremello ?

Answer 27

0 degrees

Question 28

In Auto Pan which modulation waveform type is the Invert button most useful/impactful for ?

Answer 28

Saw wave - to create either a saw up or saw-down

Question 29

In Overdrive, what is the effect of the Dynamics control?

Answer 29

It changes how much the original signal is being compressed

Question 30

What are some approximate settings you could use to thicken and enhance a low bass sound using Overdrive

Answer 30

Dry/Wet 100%, Dynamics 50%, Tone 30%, Filter Freq 250hz, Filter Q 4-5, Drive 50%

Question 31

In the MIDI/Link Tab in System Preferences which setting needs to be activated in order to recieve/record MIDI input from a device or send MIDI out to it?

Answer 31

‘Track’ needs to be activated

Question 32

In the MIDI/Link Tab in System Preferences which setting needs to be activated in order to control the tempo of an external device or have Abletons tempo controlled by it ?

Answer 32

‘Sync’ needs to be activated

Question 33

In the MIDI/Link Tab in System Preferences which setting needs to be activated in order to recieve CC messages from an external device, or to send them to an exernal device ?

Answer 33

‘Remote’ needs to be activated

Question 34

Name and describe the three CC Takeover modes

Answer 34

None - CC values will immediately to values set on hardware controllers
Pickup - CC values will remain unchanged until the control on the harware is moved to the established value
Value Scaling - Live will scale the output of the hardware control so that it still has the desired effect on the software but at a relative degree

Question 35

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb describe the attributes of the Dark Hall algorithm

Answer 35

Smooth, classic sounding algorithm suitable for medium to large sounding halls.

Question 36

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb describe the attributes of the Quartz algorithm

Answer 36

Hall style reverb with audible echoes in the tail.

Question 37

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb describe the attributes of the Shimmer algorithm

Answer 37

Densely stacked diffuse delays, with pitch shifting capabilities.

Question 38

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb describe the attributes of the Tides algorithm

Answer 38

Output spectrum is modulated with a multiband filter to create a rippling tail.

Question 39

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb describe the attributes of the Prism algorithm

Answer 39

Bright and artificial-sounding diffuse reverb.

Question 40

(Ableton 11) In Hybrid Reverb what does the Vintage control do

Answer 40

The Vintage control adds some filtering and distortion to replicate the sound of analog delay units.

Question 41

(Ableton 11) In Chorus-Ensemble what are the three different modes and how do they differ ?

Answer 41

Classic - is a standard chorus effect, adding a modulated signal with standard controls
Ensemble - results in a thicker sound by adding an additional modulated signal
Vibrato - adds a pulsating changing pitch that results in a characteristic warbling sound

Question 42

(Ableton 11) In Chorus-Ensemble and Phaser-Flanger what does the Colour control do ?

Answer 42

Colour adds filtering and sublte distortion to replicate the sound of analog hardware

Question 43

(Ableton 11) Which mode of Phaser-Flanger can be used for stereo widening purposes?

Answer 43

Doubler, which simply adds a second time-delayed signal

Question 44

(Ableton 11) Which control in Phaser-Flanger can be increased to add metallic sounds to high-frequency sounds such as high-hats and cymbals ?

Answer 44

Increasing the Feedback - and pressing the button next to it will have an even more dramatic effect