Ableton Forum

All

I have no idea what to call this or how to go about it, so I will explain what I am trying to do

I am recording a song, and want to insert a 15 second part that sounds like someone switching radio stations. The thing is, as the effect of radio stations switching is happening, I want to be able to hear my guitar riff that I created

Does anyone have any idea how to go about doing that? Are there sound loops of stuff like that that I can tailor?

Help is appreciated

Curt

Um, Operator's white noise waveform will give you the static

I have an idea of how to do it. When you turn the rotary dial on an AM radio, as it tunes a station in, it sounds like a high-pass filter's cutoff frequency is being dragged from the highest point down to fully (or mostly) open, and as the dial passes the station, it sounds as if the cutoff frequency is being dragged back up the other way.

If I were to try this, I'd drag an MP3 onto a track on its own in a new project. I'd add an Auto Filter and play with automation (or do it live while bouncing to another track) until I got the kind of sound I want. Then I'd crop to the part I want to keep. I'd do this for several different MP3s, then line them up over a new track containing nothing but white noise. Then I'd play with volume automation and cross-fading until I got close to what I want.

Are you saying you want your guitar over the top of this? Or are you saying you want your guitar to come in as if it were playing on one of the radio stations? No matter, it should be obvious how to handle that part.

Anyway, I can hear it all in my head, but don't currently have time to play with it. What does anyone else think?

I appreciate your feedback.

Cropping is something I am just getting into. Is that the term for it? Any videos on doing that?

You could record guitar part. Then using a ipod fm transmitter to broadcast it to say a clock radio with dial and record result

The effect you are talking about is called Sideband Modulation.
there are even Eurorack modules for it, like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcZnFO9s_gg

from what I remember it's a kind of amplitude modulation, and that's why they call it AM radio. Basic AM modulation is quite easy to do, it's a simply multiplication of the carrier and modulator to get the outcome. but to get it sounding like radio, other than sweeping the carrier, well I'm not sure of the specifics of the subtleties.

what dubxile suggests is obviously the best sound you'll get, but not everyone has an fm transmitter.

so i just made a rack with a 'tuning dial'. was a fun experiment - grab it here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/782 ... roject.zip

replace the 'Egypt' audio sample with your own and select the middle RADIO track. use its TUNER macro to blend between white noise and your audio.

csassakb1 wrote:Cropping is something I am just getting into. Is that the term for it? Any videos on doing that?

To crop a clip containing an audio sample or MP3, double-click it in the Arrangement, then play around with the Start and End boxes in the Detail view at the bottom. When you're happy with the result, you can optionally right-click the waveform and clip Crop Sample.

The Smack My Bitch Up Ableton video on youtube might give some ideas for a lo-fi effects, if that's part of what you want to do.

i use radio noises quite a bit in my stuff, i just use a small am/fm radio with an earphone jack that goes directly into a track in live. i picked it up at a car boot sale for a few quid. it's surprising what randomly pops up and fits in with the other stuff i'm playing when i play around with the tuning dial

Thank you guys

I put some of my full tracks through granulator and automated the file position while side-chaining that off a muted kick sample running at variable intervals and there's a few moments that it sounds like a radio changing stations, for sure.

csassakb1 wrote: The thing is, as the effect of radio stations switching is happening, I want to be able to hear my guitar riff that I created

When you get the radio static going side-chaining the guitar channel so that it plays when the static drops in volume seems like something to try.

Use a FM Transmitter to transmit the guitar parts to a radio frequency and record the audio from an actual radio (if you have one) as you tune in and out of your guitar parts.

I'd skip trying to recreate it 'in the box' personally, but I also have a fm transmitter for my ipod, and reciever

Resurrecting this thread to post this in case someone finds it useful: a free Reaktor Ensemble "that will make your audio tracks and music sound as if they are played on the radio, including the typical reception disturbances, noises and sounds of switching between stations."

http://mcrow.net/free-reaktor-ensemble-fm-radio/