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Tutorial 068 / Ableton Live

Build Ivory Grove

Ivory Grove is a bass sound made with Drift, Saturator and Utility.

4 stepsDriftLive 12 Suite

Listen to the finished sound

Download WEBM ↓

Follow the synthesis steps in order. Use the audio examples and device settings alongside the instructions.

Step 01 / 4

Shape oscillator 1 and the amplitude envelope

Choose oscillator 1’s waveform, shape, tuning and gain. Set Envelope 1 for the note’s amplitude contour. With oscillator 1’s filter routing off, this stage exposes the source harmonics before low-pass shaping.

Use Drift with the complete starting settings. Set the source and amplitude controls below; sections marked Off stay bypassed at this stage.

Signal flow: Drift → Saturator → Utility. Begin with the instrument, then add each effect in its numbered step.

Control Value
Osc 1 Wave Saw
Osc 1 Gain -8.0 dB
Osc 1 Oct 0
Osc 1 Shape Mod Amt 0.0 %
Env 1 Attack 6.80 ms
Env 1 Decay 871 ms
Env 1 Sustain 70 %
Env 1 Release 363 ms
Vel > Vol 40 %
Drift 3.0 %
Spread 0.0 %
Glide Time 35.0 ms
Volume -6.0 dB
Osc 2 On Off
Noise On Off
Osc 1 Flt On Off

Voicing and modulation

Set the voice options and modulation source/destination menus below. Their amounts appear in the Drift parameter table. A source has no effect when its amount is zero or its destination is None.

Control Value
Filter modulation source 1 Env 2
Filter modulation source 2 Vel
LFO modulation source Mod
Pitch modulation source 1 Env 2
Pitch modulation source 2 LFO
Shape modulation source Slide
Modulation row 1 source Mod
Modulation row 2 source Vel
Modulation row 3 source Press
Modulation row 1 destination LP Frequency
Modulation row 2 destination None
Modulation row 3 destination None
Voice count 8
Voice mode Mono

Use the voicing and modulation settings for the oscillator choices, voice mode and modulation routes.

Ivory Grove — Drift — step 1
Ivory Grove — Drift — step 1 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 1 — WebM/Opus

Next: Blend the second oscillator and contour the filter →

Step 02 / 4

Blend the second oscillator and contour the filter

Enable oscillator 2 and route oscillator 1 through the filter using the states below. Balance the second oscillator, then set low-pass frequency, resonance and the Envelope 2 modulation amount. Key tracking and velocity modulation make the brightness respond to pitch and playing strength.

Keep the first stage’s source and amplitude settings while making these changes. The complete instrument settings show the resulting tone before effects.

Control Value
Osc 2 Wave Sine
Osc 2 Oct -1
Osc 2 Gain -7.0 dB
Noise On Off
LP Type II
LP Freq 242 Hz
LP Res 0.25
HP Freq 25.0 Hz
Key > LPF 0.60
LP Mod Amt 1 30 %
LP Mod Amt 2 12 %
Env 2 Attack 2.00 ms
Env 2 Decay 450 ms
Env 2 Sustain 20 %
Env 2 Release 200 ms
Mod Matrix Amt 1 0.0 %
Osc 2 On On
Osc 1 Flt On On
Ivory Grove — Drift — step 2
Ivory Grove — Drift — step 2 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 2 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Saturator →

Step 03 / 4

Apply Saturator

Select the curve before setting Drive. Drive changes the waveform’s harmonic content; Output balances the level after that change. Dry/Wet blends the processed and direct tone. Keep Color and clipping controls as listed because they alter the distortion character.

Control Value
Type Soft Sine
Drive 1.0 dB
Output -2.0 dB
Color On Off
Pre Dc Filter On
Dry/Wet 70 %

Place Saturator after Drift. The complete settings include its remaining controls.

Ivory Grove — Saturator — step 3
Ivory Grove — Saturator — step 3 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 3 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Utility →

Step 04 / 4

Apply Utility

Set gain and width at the end of the chain. Set Utility’s Gain knob to the Output value in the table. Width changes the balance between center and side information; Mono combines the channels. Bass Mono narrows only the low frequencies below its cutoff. Keep DC Filter and phase-inversion switches at the listed values.

Control Value
Output 4.82 dB
DC Filter On
Mono On

Place Utility after Saturator. The complete settings include its remaining controls.

Ivory Grove — Utility — step 4
Ivory Grove — Utility — step 4 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 4 — WebM/Opus

Audio & settings ↓

Audio & settings

Audio recordings and settings for this tutorial.