Xhun Audio SnareClack (SnapLab) preview

[xhunaudio]

Hello,

for the people interested, from the next weeks I'm going to expand the "SnapLab" lineup with a new device called SnareClack.

SnareClack is for electronic snare drums the same as KickBeat is for elecronic bass drums : a very easy to use (and to program) hybrid generator, with special attention to price

A specific gadget for a specific scope at a low and fair price.



In the next few days I'll publish a brief show and tell of its main aspects and parameters.

[xhunaudio]

A preliminary audio demo on SoundCloud. All snare drums are from SnareClack, no additional processors used.

( All bass drums are from KickBeat, the sequence line is from LittleOne )

https://soundcloud.com/xhun-audio/snare ... and-clacks

[xhunaudio]

Ok, it's time for my usual "show and tell"

Well, the interface is quite straightforward - there're 2 synthesis layers involved : the Tonal layer and the Noise layer.

The Tonal layer :



TONAL ATTACK [1ms...1sec] : Set the tonal layer attack time / pitch amount.

TONAL DECAY [700ms...2sec] : Set the tonal layer decay time / pitch amount.

TONAL PITCH [100Hz...400Hz] : Set the tonal layer main pitch.

TONAL LEVEL [MIN...MAX] : Set the tonal layer volume.

[xhunaudio]

And the Noise layer :



NOISE ATTACK [1ms...1sec] : Set the noise layer attack time.

NOISE DECAY [100ms...3sec] : Set the noise layer decay time.

NOISE TONE [MIN...MAX] : Set the noise layer tone, a combination of filter type and cutoff frequency. When the knob is set on the center position, no filtering is applied. When the knob is set on the left-half position, a digital 2-poles LP filter is active, with cutoff frequency going from 54.5 Hz up to 14.5 kHz. When the knob is set on the right-half position, a digital 2-poles HP filter is active, with cutoff frequency going from 54.5 Hz up to 14.5 kHz.

NOISE LEVEL [MIN...MAX] : Set the noise layer volume.

[Nug Wrangler]

cool

[xhunaudio]

A note about the Noise TONE parameter...

In addition to the specs I reported in my previous post, I forgot to mention (from a sound design point of view) :

- setting the knob on the left half position is useful to design low-fi style snares, similar to vintage low-fi snare samples (it's just about sound flavour : SnareClack do NOT use samples at all).

- setting the knob on the left half position is useful to design 909-style or SDS-style snares.

Noise has a very central role in electronic snares design.

[xhunaudio]

To conclude this walkthrough, SnareClack includes controls for the built-in DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) Saturation curve and for the stereo expander circuit, as well as a control for velocity modulation (also found on KickBeat).



MASTER VOLUME [MIN...MAX] : Set the device main volume.

DAC LOAD [MIN...MAX] : Set the DAC circuit saturation amount. This will give you the same "punch" typical of a 80s or 90s hardware drum machine.

STEREO EXPAND [OFF...ON] : Enable the built-in stereo expander circuit. This widens the stereo image.

VEL AMP [OFF...ON] : Enable the velocity to control the amplifier.

And that's it !

SnareClack will be released in 2 days (Friday, June 9th).

Because of its very small CPU footprint, you can easily combine 2-3 (or more) instances of SnareClack and achieve gigantic snares.

[xhunaudio]

Ok, SnareClack is finally released :

https://www.xhun-audio.com/site/xhun.ph ... snareclack

Available on XA eShop as well as on 3rd party Dealers with the same 50% Off introductory offer : 19.90 Euro / USD.

I hope you'll find it useful for creating good electronic snare drums on the fly.

Sound design requires tweaking just a few parameters and it is very CPU friendly, specially compared to the option of using a "fully-fledged", generic synth or drum machine just for the snare parts.