Continuing our deep-dive into the standout tools in our CM Plugin Suite, we shed some light on drone-making using BazilleCM’s sequencer section
Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm334downloads
#04
Before we get started this month, let’s just make sure that we are talking about the right kind of drone! We certainly aren’t talking about any form of flying machine or underwater sub, but we could certainly use this month’s patch to provide plenty of sub ‐like action.
One of the most powerful features, located at the bottom of BazilleCM’s interface, is the sequencer section. Its primary role is to provide a modulation source, but that modulation can be applied to any parameter that is patchable within the BazilleCM interface. If it were connected to the tuning input of OSC1, we could use it as a traditional sequencer, to play a series of notes in a prescribed order, in a looped formation. However, we are going to use the sequencer three times, for the purposes of tone modulation. This means that we can create plenty of movement within our patch, which is exactly the sort of thing that makes a drone more interesting.
Moreover, the drone that we are going to create is at the more playable end of drone business. Play it low, and you have an interesting and pulsating bass drone, but it can also be played higher, to provide interest in the middle of a mix. Or you could use it to add interest to a track when played alongside a chord sequence, as we do in our video tutorial demo.
Roland Schmidt
Roland Schmidt is a professional programmer, sound designer and producer, who has worked in collaboration with a number of successful production teams over the last 25 years. He can also be found delivering regular and key-note lectures on the use of hardware/software synthesisers and production, at various higher educational institutions throughout the UK
> Step by step Creating a sequencer-based drone with BazilleCM
1 Let’s start things off by initialising a patch on BazilleCM. Open up your DAW and load up the plugin. Once the plugin window is open, move to the central display at the top of the window, click to reveal the drop-down menu, and select ‘init’ from the bottom. This will initialise the patch.
2 As part of the initialisation, you’ll also hear the FX Delay active in the signal. To make our adjustments clearer at this stage, go to the Delay section (bottom-right) and move the switch to the ‘off’ position. can always switch it on again later, if so desired.
3 Move to the OSC1 section and adjust the Tune pot to a
