Make a power-up shine

About 10 minutes

You will build a power-up shine by starting with one plain rising note and adding four things that make a sound feel alive: Vibrato, Detune, Tremolo and Metallic (FM). After this you will know which control to reach for.

Start from nothing

Open a blank sound (opens in a new tab)

1. A plain rising note

  1. Press + Tone. Set Wave to triangle, a soft tone.
  2. Set Pitch to 330, switch on Slide to another pitch and set Slides to to 880.
  3. Set Length to 0.5 and Volume to 0.25.
  4. Play. It works, but it sounds flat and electronic.

Hear step 1 (opens in a new tab)

2. Vibrato: a wobble in pitch

Like a singer holding a note. Speed is how many wobbles a second and Depth is how far the pitch moves, in cents (100 cents is one piano key).

  1. Switch on Vibrato. Set Speed to 6 and Depth to 25.
  2. Play. The note now shimmers a little.
  3. Try Depth 300 to hear what too much sounds like (a siren), then put it back.

Hear step 2 (opens in a new tab)

3. Detune: two copies, slightly apart

Two identical sounds a few cents apart beat against each other and sound thick and wide, like a chorus of instruments. This is the most useful trick in the lesson.

  1. Lower this layer's Volume to 0.2 (two layers add together) and set Detune to -12.
  2. Press Duplicate. The copy keeps every setting, including the vibrato.
  3. The copy is now selected. Set its Detune to 12.
  4. Play. A much fuller sound from two layers that only differ by a quarter of a piano key.

Hear step 3 (opens in a new tab)

4. A bell on top: Metallic and Tremolo

Metallic (FM) with a ratio that is not a whole number gives bell-like sounds: 2.76 is a good one. Tremolo is a wobble in loudness instead of pitch, so the sound pulses.

  1. Press + Tone. Leave Wave as sine and set Pitch to 1320, Starts at to 0.25, Length to 0.7 and Volume to 0.1.
  2. Switch on Metallic (FM). Set Ratio to 2.76, Amount to 3 and Amount at the end to 0.
  3. Switch on Tremolo. Set Speed to 10 and Depth to 0.3.
  4. Play. A twinkling bell rings out after the rising tone.

Hear the finished power-up (opens in a new tab)

Which control for what?