The typical housestab!

[Amblin]

Okay, Ive been going nuts about this lately. I usually produce melodic trance but recently ive become more interested in housemusic. And by housemusic I mean the cheesy commercial type of house.

The one thing that pisses me off is the stab/synth/guitar that most of these commercial tracks use. Ive talked to a friend and he says that I should try sampling old housetracks to get that particular stab im looking for but I don´t want to rely on other peoples tracks. I want to compose something on my own which is why I´m asking you guys if anyone knows some refill or VSTi whatever which is able to create this particular sound which in my opinion is the most essential element in a houseproduction.

If you don´t know which sound im asking for just shout and I´ll see if I can fix a little demo on the sound.

//cheers

[Bonteburg]

Hi Amblin!
A sound example would have been nice, as you're obviously after one particular sound (?)
Here's my school of do. Almost anything can be a house stab provided it has a chordlike feeling to it, that's why i go for sampling and resampling. Try playing a minor chord on a synth,, sample it and load it as a sampler instrument – say you used a piano chord, there's instant acieed for you! etc etc etc. Some of my favourite housey stabs are off other songs I did (or never completed ), those little magic moments in a track, being played back on a keyboard will work wonders (sometimes)...
So, go forth and experiment , I say!

Marco

[psynus]

Hi Amblin!
A sound example would have been nice, as you're obviously after one particular sound (?)
Here's my school of do. Almost anything can be a house stab provided it has a chordlike feeling to it, that's why i go for sampling and resampling. Try playing a minor chord on a synth,, sample it and load it as a sampler instrument – say you used a piano chord, there's instant acieed for you! etc etc etc. Some of my favourite housey stabs are off other songs I did (or never completed ), those little magic moments in a track, being played back on a keyboard will work wonders (sometimes)...
So, go forth and experiment , I say!

Marco

So, this is how you do it...

[CypherOne]

Hi Amblin!
A sound example would have been nice, as you're obviously after one particular sound (?)
Here's my school of do. Almost anything can be a house stab provided it has a chordlike feeling to it, that's why i go for sampling and resampling. Try playing a minor chord on a synth,, sample it and load it as a sampler instrument – say you used a piano chord, there's instant acieed for you! etc etc etc. Some of my favourite housey stabs are off other songs I did (or never completed ), those little magic moments in a track, being played back on a keyboard will work wonders (sometimes)...
So, go forth and experiment , I say!

Marco

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

[deps]

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

It's the easiest method of beat sampling (as opposed to constructive sampling where you're attempting to simulate real instruments).
You just take a 'cut' of any sound and mangle it with a sampler. Then assign the new mangled sound to root notes that can be sequenced in with rest of the track, etc.

hth, deps

[speccyteccy]

I start with a simple saw osc. Add some detuned oscs. Zero attack and a quick decay vol env. Similarly shaped cutoff envelope for an lp filter. Adjust to taste. Maybe a gentle lfo on the cutoff too.

[nuffink]

Hi Amblin!
A sound example would have been nice, as you're obviously after one particular sound (?)
Here's my school of do. Almost anything can be a house stab provided it has a chordlike feeling to it, that's why i go for sampling and resampling. Try playing a minor chord on a synth,, sample it and load it as a sampler instrument – say you used a piano chord, there's instant acieed for you! etc etc etc. Some of my favourite housey stabs are off other songs I did (or never completed ), those little magic moments in a track, being played back on a keyboard will work wonders (sometimes)...
So, go forth and experiment , I say!

Marco

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

Parallel chords.

[CypherOne]

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

It's the easiest method of beat sampling (as opposed to constructive sampling where you're attempting to simulate real instruments).
You just take a 'cut' of any sound and mangle it with a sampler. Then assign the new mangled sound to root notes that can be sequenced in with rest of the track, etc.

hth, deps

deps, I think you've misunderstood me. In relation to chord based stabs as mentioned by Marco, I don't understand what difference it would make to sample it to play across the keyboard rather than simply playing chords as normal?

[valley]

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

Playing a sampled chord out of its' root (in terms of sample freq) key does not produce quite the same chord as would be gained by playing the notes normally. Although very minor there is a slight detuning effect.

Some people argue that this gives those old sampled chords some of their character.

[CypherOne]

Hi Amblin!
A sound example would have been nice, as you're obviously after one particular sound (?)
Here's my school of do. Almost anything can be a house stab provided it has a chordlike feeling to it, that's why i go for sampling and resampling. Try playing a minor chord on a synth,, sample it and load it as a sampler instrument – say you used a piano chord, there's instant acieed for you! etc etc etc. Some of my favourite housey stabs are off other songs I did (or never completed ), those little magic moments in a track, being played back on a keyboard will work wonders (sometimes)...
So, go forth and experiment , I say!

Marco

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

Parallel chords.

okay, now explain that for an extra thick person like me, please?

[spaceman]

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

Playing a sampled chord out of its' root (in terms of sample freq) key does not produce quite the same chord as would be gained by playing the notes normally. Although very minor there is a slight detuning effect.

Some people argue that this gives those old sampled chords some of their character.

I think cypher means.. why play the samples if you can just fire up a synth and play them yourself

[CypherOne]

Marco, silly question maybe, but why would you choose to sample it instead of just playing it across the keyboard?

Playing a sampled chord out of its' root (in terms of sample freq) key does not produce quite the same chord as would be gained by playing the notes normally. Although very minor there is a slight detuning effect.

Some people argue that this gives those old sampled chords some of their character.

I think cypher means.. why play the samples if you can just fire up a synth and play them yourself

BINGO! give that man a kebab...

so is there any difference in your opinion spaceman?

Thanks valley by the way

[valley]

Also, for some of the classic house vamps, the natural 'chipmunking' effect of playing samples at higher than natural frequency adds a lot of character too. As you move up the scale the envelope of the sample naturally shortens. This gives higher notes a slight sense of urgency, and lower notes a corresponding feel of 'soul'.

[valley]

I think cypher means.. why play the samples if you can just fire up a synth and play them yourself

I know. The point is that the synth will give you a nice, even, and clean set of chords with perfect tuning, and natural envelopes throughout the useful range. A single sampled chord played at varying pitches will alias, detune, and chipmunk to varying levels. These side effects are not always detrimental.

[deps]

deps, I think you've misunderstood me. In relation to chord based stabs as mentioned by Marco, I don't understand what difference it would make to sample it to play across the keyboard rather than simply playing chords as normal?

I took Marco's original post to mean what I explained as he mentioned sampling, resampling, playing chords on a synth (which would give you an initial sweeping sound for instance), and then loading them in a sample player.

But I could have completely misunderstod everyone

deps