Shuffled, Groove locked Delay in Bitwig
Tutorial | Nov 21, 2023
In this video, I discuss the problem of using delays in situations where there is a shuffle or groove setting. When a straight melody is overlaid with a shuffled delay, it can sound off and disrupt the groove. To address this, I demonstrate how to create a shuffled delay using the FX grid and a feedback loop, allowing the delay to align with the groove setting. I provide a patch for download and encourage viewers to try it out and provide feedback.
You can watch the Video on Youtube - support me on Patreon
In today's video, I'm diving into the complexities of using delays in music production, especially when dealing with shuffled rhythms. Here's a summary of the key points:
- Yesterday's Topic: We discussed syncing melodies to drum grooves.
- Today's Focus: Exploring delays and their potential issues in certain musical contexts.
- Initial Setup: Demonstrated a straight melody on the Polymers synth, adding a simple delay for enhancement.
- Challenge with Shuffle: When applying a 50% shuffle (18 notes), the melody clashed with the straight delay taps.
- The Problem: The straight delay patterns disrupted the groove of the shuffled melody.
- My Usual Approach: I tend to avoid delays in funky, groovy tracks to maintain rhythm integrity.
- Creating a Shuffled Delay: Aimed to replicate a delay that aligns with the global shuffle setting.
- Technical Steps:Used an FX grid and enabled shuffle settings.
Set up a feedback loop using a recorder as a delay buffer.
Incorporated amplifiers for feedback control and a scalar for phase and gate output management.
Utilized logic and comparisons to retrigger recording and playback.
Applied volume shaping using curves for dynamic control. - Result: Achieved a delay that complements the shuffled rhythm, creating a unique sound texture.
- Recommendation: This method is great for groovy or funky music requiring delay effects.
- Download Patch: https://bit.ly/49JBbAz
Questions & Answers #
Maybe you dont watch the video, here are some important takeaways:
What is the problem with using delays in certain situations? #
The problem with using delays in certain situations is that they can sound off or out of sync with the groove or shuffle of the melody. This is because the delay tabs are playing back in a straight pattern, while the melody has a shuffled groove.
How can I recreate a shuffled delay effect in my music? #
To recreate a shuffled delay effect, you can use an FX grid and enable the shuffle setting in the device phase. Then, use a recorder as your delay buffer and create a feedback loop. Use a scalar to retrigger and shape the volume of the delay buffer, and adjust the settings to match the groove or shuffle of your melody.
How can I make the shuffled delay effect more interesting? #
To make the shuffled delay effect more interesting, you can use an amplifier to overdo the feedback and create a self-resonating effect. You can also add a low cut and high cut filter to emulate the characteristics of a delay device. Experiment with different settings and ratios to create unique and groovy delay patterns.
How can I implement this shuffled delay effect in my own music? #
To implement the shuffled delay effect in your own music, you can download the patch provided in the description of the video from the creator's Github page. Follow the steps outlined in the video to set up the delay effect using an FX grid, recorder, and scalar. Adjust the settings and experiment with different parameters to achieve the desired shuffled delay effect.
Transcription #
This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.
[00:00:00] Hey folks, welcome back to another video.
[00:00:03] In yesterday's video we talked about synchronizing melodies to drum grooves and today it's about
[00:00:08] delays because delays can sometimes be a problem in certain situations.
[00:00:13] So let's imagine you have here this straight melody playing on this Polymers synth.
[00:00:18] It sounds like this.
[00:00:24] So it's pretty straight, there's no shuffle or anything and we can add here let's say
[00:00:29] a delay one, a bit of feedback, a bit of mix.
[00:00:40] And it sounds much better because the melody in itself is straight and the delay tabs are
[00:00:47] playing or playing back everything that's in the buffer pretty straight and dead on
[00:00:53] with 16 notes.
[00:00:56] So now if you enable basically here the global groove setting, a bit of shuffle 50%, 18
[00:01:04] notes, sounds like this.
[00:01:12] So it doesn't sound that great anymore because you overlay this shuffled melody line here,
[00:01:19] pattern with a pretty much dead on straight delay tabs that are still in the normal grid,
[00:01:30] let's say in the unshuffled grid, right?
[00:01:32] It's pretty much dead on and you overlay this nice groove with a straight pattern of delay
[00:01:38] tabs.
[00:01:39] So that's why it sounds a bit off and that's why I usually when I do some funky stuff,
[00:01:45] I don't use delays that much.
[00:01:48] You can use delays of course, but you have to dial in a bit back here.
[00:01:55] So you don't destroy actually the groove of your pattern, right?
[00:02:03] So what I want to do in this video is I want to recreate basically a delay inside of the
[00:02:11] grid that is shuffled or that uses the global shuffle setting.
[00:02:16] So here we use an FX grid and we select the FX grid and on the left side, you can see
[00:02:21] under device phase, we have your shuffle settings.
[00:02:24] We can enable this.
[00:02:26] So now everything inside of the grid that uses the device phase is actually using also
[00:02:33] the global groove setting here or shuffle setting.
[00:02:37] So inside of the grid now, we can use a recorder as our delay buffer and we want to create
[00:02:46] let's say a feedback loop.
[00:02:48] So we do this here with a long delay and we don't use a long delay for the buffer.
[00:02:54] We just dial this down to the minimum setting.
[00:02:57] But we need to use a long delay to actually connect your output to the input of the blend.
[00:03:05] So now we have here basically some kind of feedback loop already running.
[00:03:10] We can also use an amplifier here so we can overdo the feedback and make itself resonating
[00:03:18] at one point if you want to.
[00:03:20] And then we need something to retrigger here, the recording and the playback.
[00:03:25] So what we can do is we can use, of course, the device phase here, which is shuffled and
[00:03:31] use a scalar.
[00:03:33] And I like to use the scalar because we have here a phase output and a gate output at the
[00:03:40] same time.
[00:03:41] So I know you can just multiply this here and use a wrapper and so on.
[00:03:45] But I like to use the scalar for that here in this situation.
[00:03:52] Logic and comparisons.
[00:03:54] We want to compare basically the output of this with zero because the second input jack
[00:03:59] here is empty.
[00:04:00] So it's zero.
[00:04:01] So when the input here is zero, it's the same.
[00:04:04] Then we get here a gates we retrigger.
[00:04:08] And the phase is, of course, always in the beginning zero.
[00:04:10] So we really trigger at the beginning of the device phase here.
[00:04:14] And then we can increase here the ratio and we can use the output of that to retrigger
[00:04:19] and record the delay buffer.
[00:04:24] And we can use the device phase here to shape the volume.
[00:04:28] We use a multiply to change the volume and use a curve.
[00:04:33] And I really like to use a curve because you can shape the shape, which is nice.
[00:04:39] I really like this.
[00:04:42] I know you can use a window, but with the window you have basically this fixed curve.
[00:04:49] So we go in this year, 100 percent, and we switch this to hold.
[00:04:53] And now we can use the output of the curves here as a multiply signal to change the volume
[00:05:00] here of the output of that.
[00:05:02] So now it sounds like this.
[00:05:09] So we can bring in the dry signal here.
[00:05:18] You can play around with the ratio here, but if you go down, the longer it records and
[00:05:26] the longer it takes to play it back.
[00:05:30] And the problem with that is that you basically get rid of all the groove settings in between.
[00:05:36] You can't change the playback speed of the recorder to actually mimic the shuffle.
[00:05:43] So you actually want to retrigger more often like four times.
[00:05:48] So you catch all the small little offsets of the shuffle.
[00:06:02] So you can use an amplifier to actually get the self resonating feedback.
[00:06:10] You can also bring in here then a low cut.
[00:06:15] Let's say low pass and high pass.
[00:06:24] Jennifer low pass.
[00:06:26] So you can kind of emulate here a delay of one device with the feedback and this low cut
[00:06:39] and high cut and so on.
[00:06:46] So now you can hear the delay or the echo of this is kind of coupled a little bit.
[00:07:05] So with this you get the delay tab that's a bit unusual that kind of supports the groove
[00:07:11] or supports your shuffle setting here, your global shuffle setting.
[00:07:17] It's not hard to set up.
[00:07:18] It's just a recorder here with a feedback loop and a bit of a scalar magic.
[00:07:25] And yeah, it's maybe an option for you if you want to make groovy or funky tunes and
[00:07:31] you want to use delays.
[00:07:34] And with this you basically you have a delay that uses the global shuffle setting, which
[00:07:40] is interesting and pretty unusual I would say.
[00:07:44] So give this a try here, try it out and maybe give me feedback if you kind of like this
[00:07:49] idea.
[00:07:51] If you have some questions let me know.
[00:07:52] Of course I put this patch here in the description below so you can download it from my github.
[00:07:57] Yeah, leave a like if you liked the video, subscribe to the channel.
[00:08:02] Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
[00:08:04] Bye.
[00:08:04] [ Silence ]