Tags: posts polarity-music Bitwig Bitwig-5.2.5 Preset Tutorial Harmony

Disharmonic Sounds with Freq Shifted Notes

Tutorial | Nov 04, 2024

Over the weekend, I explored an idea where I used a frequency shifter on an A minor sample to create disharmonic or horror sounds by altering frequency relationships. To maintain clarity and avoid artifacts, I emulated the frequency shifting effect using a note grid to shift pitches down manually, allowing for the creation of new harmonic relationships and microtonic scales. This approach is particularly useful for generating unique sounds for horror soundtracks or techno music, and I've shared the patch in the description for those interested in trying it out.

You can watch the Video on Youtube

Summary

Maybe you don't watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

In this video, I shared an experimental music production technique I explored over the weekend, which I found particularly intriguing and somewhat unconventional. The core idea revolves around manipulating harmonic relationships in music using frequency shifting and note grids, aiming to create disharmonic or unsettling sounds, ideal for horror themes or specific techno tracks.

I started by loading a music loop or sample that is not note-based; it is a simple piano riff in A minor. This simplicity makes it easy to play along or build upon, as it's harmonically straightforward. The concept I pursued was to convert this harmonic sample into a darker, more disharmonic version, suitable for creating suspenseful or eerie soundscapes.

To achieve this transformation, I used a frequency shifter, which is distinct from a pitch shifter. Unlike a pitch shifter, the frequency shifter shifts all frequencies by the same amount. This effectively distorts the harmonic relationships between the frequencies, creating a disharmonic or unsettling sound. In the demonstration, starting the frequency shift at 0% and adjusting it up and down, I noted how the sound evolved unexpectedly yet distinctively.

However, frequency shifters can sometimes introduce unwanted artifacts to the audio. To maintain the cleanness of the sound while still achieving the desired disharmonic effect, I proposed a workaround using a note grid. By shifting all notes in A minor via the note grid, adjusting pitch to frequency and back, and using constant adjustment, I could mimic the frequency shifter's effect more cleanly.

I explained the technical aspect further, showing how to set up a minus 700 Hz shift without the frequency shifter and directly on the notes. This was compared directly with the frequency-shifted audio to illustrate the cleaner result from using note grid techniques. The process allows for creative exploration of new harmonic relationships while preserving sound quality.

Furthermore, I emphasized the potential of recording these new pitch sequences to explore alternate scales or unusual harmonic ideas. This recording could then be used to generate interesting musical phrases, complete with MPE pitch bends integral to microtonality.

The underlying idea was to create a manual micro-pitch device that aligns with frequency shifters, opening avenues for unique sound exploration. For anyone interested in crafting disharmonic or tension-filled soundscapes, particularly in genres like horror or techno, this technique offers new creative vistas.

In closing, I mentioned making the patch available for download for those interested in trying out the technique themselves. Overall, it was a simple yet potentially powerful tool for experimental music production, inviting others to explore and ask questions. I expressed my hope that the video was informative and thanked viewers for their interest, encouraging them to engage further with the content.

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] I want to show you the stupid idea I had on the weekend and here I have some kind of music loop
[00:00:07] or sample and it's very important that it's not based on notes. It's just a sample I loaded in
[00:00:13] and it has a sound to it. It's an A minor and this piano riff here sounds like this.
[00:00:27] So it's very harmonic and you kind of can easily play along with this because it's an A minor, right?
[00:00:34] So we can add here a polymer sequence. It's also not very complicated.
[00:00:38] It's not about how it sounds. It's more about the technique.
[00:00:54] So it's very basic because it's an A minor, right? So everyone heard that.
[00:01:04] So let's say you want to create more like a horror version of this or something that sounds a bit
[00:01:11] more disharmonic. So you can use on this audio sample here only audio effects. So we can use
[00:01:17] a frequency shifter for this and the frequency shifter is not a pitch shifter. It shifts all
[00:01:24] the frequencies by the same amount, which kind of leads to the effect that all the relationships
[00:01:29] between the frequencies are kind of off or disharmonic. And it sounds like this. Let's start
[00:01:35] here with a 0% shift. You can also pitch shift down.
[00:01:54] Right, it sounds completely different than before. Kind of disharmonic because all the frequencies are all over the place.
[00:02:20] So we kind of explore micro pitch music in a way. So now the big problem is that we already have here
[00:02:31] notes that play in the scale of A minor and this is now in a new scale here because of the frequency
[00:02:38] shifter. So what you can do of course is you can just take this frequency shifter and put it also
[00:02:43] at the end of this polymer here and you get kind of the same effect.
[00:02:51] But now we have to pitch up here the some of the notes because it's
[00:02:54] it gets too low because of the 700 hertz shift down thing here.
[00:03:10] So it's not that happy anymore. It's not A minor anymore. It's something different. But my idea was instead of using this frequency shifter here because it also destroys sometimes some of the
[00:03:20] the cleanness of the sound. It adds some artifacts of course to the sound. So my idea was can we actually fake this frequency shifter with the note grid?
[00:03:34] And it turns out yes you can. You can just remove this frequency shifter here and use all the notes in here which are still in A minor and use a note grid in front of the polymer and just shift all the notes all the pitches down.
[00:03:50] But pitch to frequency and frequency so pitch conversion here just use an add and then use constant and our frequency shifter here does let me see 700 hertz shifting downwards right 100% down.
[00:04:16] Okay so here we can now do minus 700 hertz and now we have here the same effect but disable this here.
[00:04:44] I can also take here this frequency shifter put it here on this melody line.
[00:04:51] And just enable this and disable this.
[00:05:00] Enable this, disable this.
[00:05:04] It's the same effect but it's cleaner because we are using notes here and then clean synthesis right it's not like a post audio effect like the frequency shifter.
[00:05:23] So which means we can take the frequency shifter here on this piano sample and explore some different harmonic relationships and then when we end up on a place we kind of like we can then use here a note grid and shift all the notes to the same world to the same harmonic universe kind of right.
[00:05:50] And you can play along.
[00:05:53] So all I need to do is to play in here in A minor because this original audio is an A minor but I shifted it in a different world and then I use here this note grid to also shift all these A minor notes into this new world kind of.
[00:06:06] So it's a micro-pitch device that is compatible with the frequency shifter so we can of course use here also the mic micropitch right and you can use here some of the presets and shift everything down and up and create new harmonic relationships.
[00:06:27] But this one is compatible with the frequency shifter but this one is compatible with the audio effect with the frequency shifter which is kinda nice and it was an idea I had on the weekend also with Halloween when you try to create these kind of disharmonic or scary sounds.
[00:06:42] So you can just use the frequency shifter for that and destroy all the harmonic relationships between some of the sounds.
[00:06:54] Maybe just a little bit here maybe let's only use 100 hertz right and also here just 100 hertz up let's see how this sounds.
[00:07:06] This is maybe too much maybe 30 hertz.
[00:07:13] Sometimes if you shift too much let's say 100 hertz right.
[00:07:32] Then you end up here with some of the notes too high so the bass is not the bass anymore and stuff like this so then you have to apply here some octave shifts.
[00:07:45] You can see how much I need to shift these notes down to get the bass sound actually.
[00:08:00] That's because of the shift I delete this here.
[00:08:03] And of course you can also record the output here of this with this node grid right so we shift this here by 100 hertz.
[00:08:18] Then we create let's say here a new instrument track and we record everything coming here from this node grid.
[00:08:25] Let's see how this looks like.
[00:08:28] Right it's a completely different sequence and we have even here some MPE pitch on air pitch band.
[00:08:41] I don't know why it looks so weird.
[00:08:43] I probably have to use here a sample and hold I guess.
[00:08:48] Let me try this out.
[00:08:51] Move this over here.
[00:08:53] It looks better.
[00:08:57] Yeah you can see here some of the nodes have a different pitch right.
[00:09:02] The pitch of C# force here but it's but it ended up down there.
[00:09:07] So there's a pitch band on each of these nodes because of this shift here right.
[00:09:14] So it's a nice kind of hack to explore some new harmonic ideas, some different scales, unusual scales.
[00:09:22] And also you are compatible with the frequency shifter here.
[00:09:29] This device on the audio effect.
[00:09:32] So it's a different micro pitch device on manual micro pitch device.
[00:09:38] Right.
[00:09:39] So this is an idea I had.
[00:09:40] Maybe it's interesting for you if you try to come up with some unpleasant or disharmonic sounds, horror sounds for horror soundtracks or for techno where you need to have these kind of chromatic scales.
[00:09:52] So it's maybe interesting to you.
[00:09:54] Right.
[00:09:55] It was just an idea.
[00:09:56] I put this patch here in the description below so you can download it if you don't want to create it for yourself.
[00:10:03] But it's actually pretty easy.
[00:10:05] Just pitch to hertz and then hertz to pitch and then you just add your constant to it.
[00:10:10] And that's basically it.
[00:10:11] It's very simple.
[00:10:12] Okay.
[00:10:13] That's it.
[00:10:14] Leave a like if you liked the video.
[00:10:16] Keep asking questions.
[00:10:17] Thanks for watching.
[00:10:18] I'll see you in the next video.
[00:10:19] Bye.