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Using a DAW to create thump track


johngooch

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I need to create a thump track.  A daw with an internal metronome would be best.  Most have internal click track generators but they are pitched too high to be a good thump.  I have tried cutting low freq tones and cutting a pasting them into a timeline but that is not the most efficient way to do it.  I tried this method with audacity but strange annoying clicking artifacts were revealed.  

 

ideas?

 

john.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I worked with the PSC / Location Sound thumper system, that does generate a thumper tone from a click.  For some reason, the thumper processor went down, and since I was on the job as the playback operator, I had a ProTools rig on site and managed to just use a click, possibly utilizing an option to change the frequency of the click - I don't remember, and a low-pass filter, and the thump worked just fine.  It was actually great that I had a PT rig, because the director ended up wanting me to cut up the song a bit, add more leader before versus, etc... is the best way to go in my mind.

 

post-1336-0-68785700-1372218232_thumb.jp

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  • 1 month later...

I have found that sidechaining the click track in Pro Tools to trigger a gate on the signal generator plugin is the best method (mentioned a couple times above). It allows me to tune the thumper 'on the fly' in case a certain frequency can't be reproduced on the speaker or if there is some sympathetic resonances on set.

 

It also allows me to shape the volume envelope using the attack & release on the gate to give a very staccato thump or a very boomy "808 style" depending on the venue and/or scene.

 

This is an old trick in music production to add sub bass to wimpy kick drums. Hope it helps.

 

John

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Thanks Tom...great instructional video.

 

Another option...

 

If you already have a click track, and it's an audio track not the internal click generated via the DAW, use Beat Replacer to turn it into anything you want.  I use a 40hz tone, shaped so that it starts at the mid point of the wave, as the replacement.  Click track is now a Thump track.

 

P

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One thing to remember when generating your own thump track is that the effectiveness of the "thump" is dependent on: 1) the size of the room, 2) speaker design and placement and 3) the tempo of the track (you don't want too low a frequency or too long a burst on a fast tempo track, as it will tend to lose definition). The waveform should always start and end on the zero cross point.

 

--S

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  • 7 years later...

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