layer claps

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bradley1602
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layer claps

Post by bradley1602 »

Hello guys wanted to know whats your favourite approch to claps and snares. do you use strictly 808s and 909s or do you layer them with some other real handclaps recorded. as well as some processing tips would be usefull.

grtz
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Re: layer claps

Post by mehta »

bradley1602 wrote:Hello guys wanted to know whats your favourite approch to claps and snares. do you use strictly 808s and 909s or do you layer them with some other real handclaps recorded. as well as some processing tips would be usefull.

grtz

claps are important & can make or break a track in my opinion. if you are into finding your sound I'd recommend learning how to synthesize and process your own claps. layering and processing samples can work of course. sampling is cool and it's fine to have many samples of every commercially released drum machine, stuff cut from other records, sample packs, whatever. it's all about the context of the sound and how it is working in your track. but really using 909s or 808s samples all the time is kinda boring.

maybe try some bandpass filtering a noise with some lfos generating a complex pattern and then an envelope or two for amp and maybe one for a low pass filter. outboard processing really helps with these sounds too - something about getting the audio out of the box and having the sounds encounter a similar process. different reverb, saturation, eq, etc.

oh and one other thing that should be pretty obvious but having a non-static clap can help a lot. try some clap patterns in 6, 12, 36, etc.

then again I don't mind our old tracks with tons of dorky sampled drums. going off on a tangent here, but I have a friend who plays a weird live set with some interesting hardware pieces and truly bizarre "dance" sensibility ... most of his tracks sound like goofy experimental music, but when he played at peaktime in an open-minded club, people were losing it. so it's interesting, maybe our ideas about what techno are don't matter as much as we think
AK
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Re: layer claps

Post by AK »

I do whatever I think is necessary for the moment. I like doing House based stuff, esp. with an older, more retro type of feel, ala 707/drum machine type stuff - in which case I'd deliberately go for a single, unchanging clap sample right off one of those machines but that's because I want that sound and feel.

Other times, I create them myself. I delved into creatingmy own shaker sounds a while back and asked on here how others go about it. I dunno where the thread is now but by applying those techniques, I inadvertantly created clap sounds on the same patch with some minor adjustments and have been since - like I say though, as and when I feel appropriate.

Often, you can get samples now where those claps have already been processed and maybe layered or whatever but rather than use a single static sample. You can easily just load that sample up to various 'slots' in your sampler, make minor adjustments to each sample and have small variations to lessen the monotony if that's something you require too. It's just a case of variation if you feel it's a prominant enough sound in the track to warrant such a thing. I tend not to do too much of this because I like things like that to take a back seat and provide consistant rhythm. I tend to want the music to provide the variation and tonal/timbre changes and I'll do that by manipulating the synths with LFO's, control change messages etc etc. For me, too much detail can get both anal and totally unecessary in the context of a track. It rarely goes noticed unless you deliberately set out to make it so and even then, you have to be aware of distracting from the thing which is the main focal point in the music. By that, I don't mean be boring, I just mean, be aware that as a listener, the ear can end up focussing on other stuff instead of the musical aspects. It's just something to be aware of.

Anyway, it's just about experimentation. Get a hold of some interesting clap samples if you don't want to make your own. Modifying samples is easy and you can go a long way to creating your own sounds from other source sounds anyway. I have some samples from a hardware thing called a 'claptrap', I like using those, altering sample start time and putting them through an envelope and repitching them is enough to tailor them to fit in with what I'm doing.

try putting them slightly before the beat, slightly after etc, anything to get a feel you like. When layering them you can also do the same, minor adjustments like this as well as panning and efx can bring a bit of life to them quite easily.
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Phase Ghost
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Re: layer claps

Post by Phase Ghost »

I really like the clap in drum spillage. Especially since I can mold it to my taste. I also like layering live claps over something very clicky. I'll just sample a crowd or record it myself. Really can't say I have any desire to try and synthesize one from scratch. 808 and 909 are obviously great.
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Re: layer claps

Post by steevio »

i absolutely hate claps, i think they are the most cliche'd and overused sound in electronic music, but i do actually occasionally use a 909 clap :oops: filtered down through a moogerfooger LPF with plenty of envelope to kill the reverb so that you cant really notice its a clap, and occasionally layer a 909 clap quietly under the snare to give the snare extra oomph.
i also find that claps sound way better flammed, i can just about bear them like that.

i synthesize every sound i use except for claps, i've just never had the desire to try, but good on you AK for managing that one, it's one of the difficult ones. the 909 clap sounds about as good as you could get and with filtering, flamming etc. you can manipulate it away from the obvious.
lem
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Re: layer claps

Post by lem »

I really stuggled with claps for a long long time. I find its one of those elements of the bread n' butter beat that can contain the most character. I think its a psycological thing that because its often on the 2/4 beat, it can be pretty much any sound and it still sounds like a clap. Its only when you focus on it that you can hear that its nothing like a clap.
For me its foundsounds all the way with claps and snares. I use pretty much everything for them. Screwing up paper, tearing it, plastic carrier bags... the list is endless. I think the type of envelope is more important than what you use as a sound source. Distortion is also a really good tool for making claps out of anything.
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Re: layer claps

Post by steevio »

lem wrote: I think its a psycological thing that because its often on the 2/4 beat, it can be pretty much any sound and it still sounds like a clap. Its only when you focus on it that you can hear that its nothing like a clap.
yes bro, but more often than not it is a clap !
lem
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Re: layer claps

Post by lem »

steevio wrote:
lem wrote: I think its a psycological thing that because its often on the 2/4 beat, it can be pretty much any sound and it still sounds like a clap. Its only when you focus on it that you can hear that its nothing like a clap.
yes bro, but more often than not it is a clap !
Really? I swear I can hear carrier bags in music :-flower

I certainly find it easier to make claps sounds out of things other than my hands. I find recording claps are far too transient and not long and crunchy enough to have the character I'm looking for. They are so short they could be pretty much anything.
I used a 909 clap on a tune in the summer, top tune on my s.cloud. (its really prominant with little processing - so your personal hell Steevio :D) But other than that I pretty much never use drum machine claps in my music.
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