How to make this "airy echo" sound.

How to make that sound...
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So there's this sound I've always wanted to know how to make. You can hear it at around 2:37 in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RKlTRWwq3A#t=157 (It's the airy thing happening underneath the piano). Does anybody know what that is, or how to produce that sound in a DAW?
Stop and eat the roses.

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That's just a layer. Not an effect.

Try any synthesizer with a reasonable filter. Keytrack, run some noise into the filter, set res high enough to self-oscillate. Mix with about -12db on the "airy" layer.

You don't even need a reverb or delay applied to the sound to get it to sound "reverb-like" all on its own.


Xhip for example has a similar sound although this can be accomplished with nearly any synthesizer.
Free plug-ins for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Xhip Synthesizer v8.0 and Xhip Effects Bundle v6.7.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.

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Thanks for the reply! Sorry, I'm not too good with the technical terms, so your instructions were a bit confusing to me. Let me see if I follow: When you say keytrack, you mean like writing out notes for the instrument? By running noise into the filter, do you mean using a randomized waveform? I have no idea what set res high enough to self oscillate means :\ What do you mean when you say to mix the airy layer? Are there multiple layers? I use Reaper if that helps.
Stop and eat the roses.

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What synths do you have?

Res = resonance (of the filter)

keytrack = cutoff frequency of filter will be transposed according to the note played. That's a synth feature

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Thanks, that clears things up a bit. As of right now, Reasynth, Oatmeal, and Synth1. I could definitely use some more synths, if there's something better suited to the task.

My background is more in using DAWs to compose than using the more technical features, so I appreciate the help.
Stop and eat the roses.

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If Synth1 features filter keytrack then a patch is made in a couple of minutes. Bedtime here now, but I can look into it tomorrow, if aciddose doesn't fix you the patch by then.

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nick.shooter wrote:As of right now, Reasynth, Oatmeal, and Synth1.
ReaSynth? How do you use it? Even the worst free Synthmaker synth is better than ReaSynth, IME (in my ears)! The ReaSample5000 sampler is pretty useful for simpler tasks but ReaSynth...I really can do without...

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@CableChannel: That would be fantastic, I'll see if I can't figure it out myself in the meantime.

@Tricky-Loops: Yup, it's pretty bad. I only use it when I want pure sine/sawtooth/etc.
Stop and eat the roses.

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If you want to try Xhip, it's free (see the website in my sig) and available for windows. No OSX version unfortunately (sorry!) but I might fix that soon (months).

If you get it running, just select the preset "Verb" in 33 ... 48. That is set up pretty much the same way I described. You might want to reduce or increase the filter "sat", and adjust the volume/noise mix level in mixer/cutoff for tuning. You might also want to tweak the attack/decay/sustain levels for the amp envelope.

Gives you the basic sound out-of-the-box though.

The important thing to keep in mind is that they don't just play the same notes in the layer in the clip you linked. They actually apply a slightly humanized-sounding delay as well as playing different notes and pattern, although it seems to be keeping to the same melody without any harmony. (In other words, if the main part plays C, D, G, the 'verb' layer might play C, ..., G.)

The effect is actually to sort of emphasize or accent certain notes of the piano part. A very cool "fattening" of the piano part that I have heard before, but unfortunately only rarely. I'd like to hear it (and other "fattening dubs" like it) more often.

Here is an example of the sound from Xhip (this 'track' is 100% Xhip):
https://soundcloud.com/xhip/aciddose-whattheheckis

This isn't arranged in the same way though. The mix of parts here is pretty close to equal and the 'verb' part includes some harmony. Sort of similar emphasis of the underlying chords though.
Free plug-ins for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Xhip Synthesizer v8.0 and Xhip Effects Bundle v6.7.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.

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So I guess this has been taken care for allright? Xhip should do the job.

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Thanks, that's pretty much exactly what I needed! xhip seems like it's pretty neat, I'll download it tonight when I get to my desktop.
Stop and eat the roses.

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Well, any synthesizer with a reasonable filter (self-oscillating - means it can generate a tone when you turn resonance / feedback up enough) and the ability to pass noise into the filter / from the mixer should do it.

To get the exact timbre though you might look at various filters. For example bandpass, or filters with interesting saturation (distortion) characteristics.

Filters can have saturation of the input signal, the feedback (oscillation) and the complete output as well.

Although in the clip you linked it sounds to me like a fairly pure tone (noise -> 12db lowpass?) and a soft attack.

Just don't forget to experiment with it, the "verb" preset is just an idea to get you started and it can be applied to all sorts of synthesizers.
Free plug-ins for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Xhip Synthesizer v8.0 and Xhip Effects Bundle v6.7.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.

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