EDM layering your chords

S

SaneSauceMusic

New member
Hey guys was listening to a track and i loved the way on the mini drop they had there chords sounding huge.

Its on the video I linked at 38 seconds.

How do i layer to get that huge sound without sacrificing dynamics?

 
Compositional wise it gets a big sound because the two synths (bass and treble) are playing in the same rhythm at the same time and alot of the same notes.
The two patches glue well together and this makes it seem like one big one. It may even be the same patch just played in a lower register.
 
Yeah but I sometimes have 3 or 4 sounds layered and I am not getting that same big sound, I know EQ is also very important but I believe I have it EQ'd perfectly.

Just struggling to make it sound big.
 
Those supersaw sounds can vary from being very easy to very complex with many layers.

Sometimes you don't need to use several layers, if you use several oscillators at different octaves and many notes on different octaves, you may get away with just 1 fat and full synthlayer.

Also many supersaw sounds involve many other detuning effects than just simple unison detuning, such as detuning oscillators to eachother (and then into a unison for even more detuning), or making a copy of an oscillator with a fast pitch-LFO or phase-LFO, or setting a very detuned chorus-effect (very fast mod-speed, adjust depth, full spread, be gentle with the amount), or setting a very fast pitch-LFO on the overall synth with minimum LFO-amount.... and the list goes on.

Ignore is onto something that is very common (I've used it myself), copy the patch, maybe some slight adjustment like increasing the number of unisonvoices and detune it a little further, maybe add some chorus, maybe kill the treble a little, all this to make it softer and act more like a supportive fundation and let the first one be the aggressive one.

Then to make the patch as fat and aggressive as possible you need to set the correct velocities on the different notes.
Listen carefully in your synthsound what notes are the most aggressive and full ones, and try boosting those, and try cutting others that feel unnecessary or even maybe destroy the sound a little at default velocity, maybe the can make the sound at a much lower velocity.

I you want the synth to sound aggressive and huge, don't forget to make it poppy. Adjust the vol envelope so you have a little poppy attack in the sound, maybe even a very very fast pitch drop for further pop.

Then the right amount and processing of white noise, EQ-boosts/cuts (supersaws like to be a little heavier in the 3-5 kHz-region), the right reverb etc can enhance the sound a lot.
 
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this is so simple it is surprising that folks haven't directly told what is happening

- nothing secret about this if you can listen and hear the individual lines

- the melody is played in 4 octaves no chords whatsoever (A[sub]4[/sub]-A[sub]3[/sub]-A[sub]2[/sub]-A[sub]1[/sub])

This is a standard orchestration technique know as doubling above and below at the octave
- piano players can do it with ease having an octave span in each hand

Standard mixing techniques provide the balance between the lines and do not try to push the bass line too hard

Note on Octave Numbering
Middle C= MIDI Note Number 60 = C[sub]3[/sub] in most daws = C[sub]5[/sub] in as default in Fl and BiaB
Add 2 to the above example using either Fl or BiaB
 
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