Today it’s time for some creativity. That is, there will be no audio related problem solving, and no actual mixing, but instead: sound design! The tools of the trade are the super-lush DDD chorus plugin as well as the physically modeled Necklace spring reverb. We’re going to combine the capabilities of these plugins to transform an already weird, but still very plain and dry sounding bell from this …

into this …

Are you curious how we achieved that sound? Then be sure to read on …

Stereo Dimension Springs

We kick things off with DDD. The setup is as simple as it can get: First, we toggle the switch on the left to set the plugin to STEREO-Mode, which will provide us with a nice, wide sound. Next we choose DIMENSION MODE 4, for its rich and lush chorus effect. Finally, we set the GAIN-knob to 0, because we don’t this particular feature today. Done!

The interface of DDD should now look something like this: ddd-sound-design-interface

Setting up Necklace requires some more adjustments. As a first measure, we crank up the GAIN a bit. After all, we’re not here for a subtle reverb effect, and by increasing the input level we slightly exaggerate the overall sound of the plugin. We then introduce a gentle high pass filter by turning up the LOW-knob to about nine o’clock. By setting the DAMPING-control to minimum we make sure that we get a nice, long hall or tail. However, we make use of the PREDELAY-feature as well. This way the initial transient or impact of the bell sound will stay intact.

Next we choose 2L 2C 2R from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the interface. This gives us a total of six springs, which are positioned on the left, in the center, and on the right. LENGTH is a crucial parameter – we need to set it up carefully until the ‘motion’ of the reverb really fits our bell sound. Speaking of: before adjusting the TUNE of the effect according to the source signal, we turn the SOUND-knob all the way up. VEL determines the frequency of modulation; a value of 50 will sound ideal in our case. The MOD-knob has to be set to maximum, of course.

So far, the overall effect of Necklace is really dramatic. Thus, we back down both MIX and output VOLUME to keep things under control.

The interface of Necklace should now look something like this: necklace-sound-design-interface

That’s it – we’ve just made ourselves a pretty neat effects chain! Feel free to use it on all sorts of other instruments, too!

You can download the presets for DDD and Necklace here: ddd-necklace-sound-design-presets