How to program a "pop" sound

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
TaoEntropy
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How to program a "pop" sound

Post by TaoEntropy » Mon May 02, 2011 3:07 am

I'm trying to use a synthesizer to program a "pop" sound like a bag filled with air being popped.

It's hard for me to search for tutorials because I keep getting results pertaining to pop as in in "pop music".

I tried sampling them but they don't sound synthetic enough.

I would imagine they might be made similar to a snare sound but with a richer high end tone.

Can anyone give me a recipe?

Thanks!

timothyallan
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by timothyallan » Mon May 02, 2011 5:43 am

You'll have a tricky time doing that with just a synth. Can't you record a bag popping?

Forge.
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by Forge. » Mon May 02, 2011 6:12 am

maybe try googling some cartoon SFX, there's bound to be something like that around.... in fact Garageband has a few of those kinds of SFX

even youtube some cartoons

TaoEntropy
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by TaoEntropy » Mon May 02, 2011 7:17 am

Thanks guys. :)

I did record a few different kinds of bags popping and found a few candidates on freesound.org.

They sound a bit too "real" for my tastes. I've been messing with their parameters in sampler/warp view and I just can't get them quite the way I want them to sound.

I was hoping to program it with a synth so it would sound more "electronic" but I'm not really getting the parameters right in the synth either.

It's probably due to lack of hard core synth programming experience and/or patience.

To me, a "pop" sounds kinda like a snare sound with the sound opening up instead of clamping down in the release stage with lots of reverb.

I'm gonna keep messing with it. I'll post the formula if I get it right.

If anyone has any other tips let me know! :)

dancing Ray
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by dancing Ray » Mon May 02, 2011 7:36 am

I´d try fiddling with "lots of reverb".
Spiralgroove wrote:a little quantization never hurt nobody

d-track
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by d-track » Mon May 02, 2011 10:13 am

first be familiar with common synthesis techniques ie subtractive, additive etc.
then use a sample or sample a particular real world sound.
load it into an analyzer both the waves (oscilloscope and oscilloscope stills from ms to ms) + spectrum and the envelopes by frequency.
this is the best method to recreate sounds from synth.
not for beginners for that matter
*-*

Forge.
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by Forge. » Mon May 02, 2011 10:36 am

TaoEntropy wrote:Thanks guys. :)

I did record a few different kinds of bags popping and found a few candidates on freesound.org.

They sound a bit too "real" for my tastes. I've been messing with their parameters in sampler/warp view and I just can't get them quite the way I want them to sound.

I was hoping to program it with a synth so it would sound more "electronic" but I'm not really getting the parameters right in the synth either.

It's probably due to lack of hard core synth programming experience and/or patience.

To me, a "pop" sounds kinda like a snare sound with the sound opening up instead of clamping down in the release stage with lots of reverb.

I'm gonna keep messing with it. I'll post the formula if I get it right.

If anyone has any other tips let me know! :)
sure a bit of white noise from Operator with a very fast envelope on a low pass filter can create a "pop"

or have you tried the "vinyl distortion" plug in with click turned right up, maybe routed to another track so you can record the clicks, then drag the audio file to a simpler or empty track and you can set the start marker to play it on the keyboard

maybe try combining with your recordings?

simpli.cissimus
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by simpli.cissimus » Mon May 02, 2011 11:46 am

You should use a subtractive or FM synth !

Try one with good envelopes like Operator or Predator.
The envelopes are the key to shape the sound.
Operators pitch envelope is the best to name here.
Predator has good ones too...!!!

Make Short attacks and fast releases, and use a EQ to cut lower frequency range.
Also go for higher keys on the notes to come closer to the pop.

Squares or Saws oscillators are good candidates for those pop sounds.

Depending on the synth you use you will come close to the sound, but not 100%.

If you really like those electronic pop sounds, look here for a complete sample library:
http://www.d16.pl/plasticlicks
No! I'll never use the Push-App Live 9 !!!

TaoEntropy
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by TaoEntropy » Tue May 03, 2011 1:38 am

Thanks everyone!

I'm going to try all of those suggestions out.

I think it will probably end up being a recorded sample and a synth patch layered.

simpli.cissimus, your sample pack looks pretty good to use as point of departure for some unusual sounds. I might check it out.

It would be cool if sample pack designers gave a document with the gear and exact settings they used for each sample so people could learn how to create them or similar sounds. Future Music magazine kind of does this, but not in great detail. I think people might buy the sample packs more if they could learn from them and not feel lame for using someone else's samples. (Even though I don't think it's lame. If you have a creative vision that expresses a truth about what it means to be alive, I say take the fastest route to get what is inside of your imagination out into the world.)

Thanks again for the sound design suggestions, everyone.

Maybe I'll post a link to the sound that I end up with if I come up with one that I like.

swishniak
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by swishniak » Tue May 03, 2011 8:35 am


globalgoon
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by globalgoon » Tue May 03, 2011 10:39 am

Sounds of Nature VST Pack -



Rain: <---- this vst can make bubble popping sounds

xoxos.net

TaoEntropy
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by TaoEntropy » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:20 pm

These xoxos instruments are really cool. Kinda procedural audioy. Thanks!

yur2die4
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by yur2die4 » Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:33 pm

Just be all Phil Collins with it.

TaoEntropy
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by TaoEntropy » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:44 pm

Image

yur2die4
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Re: How to program a "pop" sound

Post by yur2die4 » Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:01 am

Also, a decent popping noise depends on context. When we pop a bag, it is way louder than everything around us. If you were to pop one in a club, it would not quite get the same effect. So part of the search would involve hearing it at that level. The other part, prepping the surrounding music for that moment.

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