playgrid.ccRead tutorial

Tutorial 102 / Ableton Live

Build Pewter Gleam

Pewter Gleam is a string sound made with Wavetable, Chorus-Ensemble, Reverb and Utility.

5 stepsWavetableLive 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 / 5

Choose the first wavetable and amplitude contour

Choose oscillator 1’s wavetable, position and tuning. Set the amplifier envelope and voicing from the starting settings. Wavetable position chooses the harmonic shape; the amplitude envelope controls how the sound arrives and fades.

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

Signal flow: Wavetable → Chorus-Ensemble → Reverb → Utility. Begin with the instrument, then add each effect in its numbered step.

Control Value
Osc 1 On On
Osc 1 Pos 66 %
Osc 1 Gain -13 dB
Amp Attack 272 ms
Amp Decay 2.72 s
Amp Sustain -1.0 dB
Amp Release 1.35 s
Unison Amount 15 %
Volume -8.0 dB
Osc 2 On Off
Sub On Off
Flt 1 On Off
Flt 2 On Off

Voicing and modulation

Choose the waveform and voicing controls below. In the Matrix and MIDI tabs, set the listed routes; leave unlisted routes at zero. The modulation amounts are the values shown in the matrix. Poly voices apply in Poly mode.

Control Value
Oscillator 1 category Basics
Oscillator 1 wavetable Basic Shapes
Oscillator 1 effect mode None
Oscillator 2 category Basics
Oscillator 2 wavetable Pulse PW
Oscillator 2 effect mode None
Voicing Poly
Poly voices 8
Unison mode Classic
Unison voices 5
Filter routing Serial
Velocity → Volume 45
Pitch Bend → Transpose 2 st
Env 2 → Flt 1 Freq 10
Note → Flt 1 Freq 15
Mod Wheel → Flt 1 Freq 12
LFO 1 → Osc 2 Pos 6

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

Pewter Gleam — Wavetable — step 1
Pewter Gleam — Wavetable — step 1 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 1 — WebM/Opus

Next: Layer the oscillators and animate the filters →

Step 02 / 5

Layer the oscillators and animate the filters

Enable the additional sources and filters using the states below. Balance oscillator 2 against oscillator 1, then set the filter types, cutoff and resonance. Apply the listed envelope and LFO routes in the instrument’s Matrix and MIDI tabs; unlisted routes stay at zero.

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 On On
Osc 2 Pos 45 %
Osc 2 Gain -16 dB
Osc 2 Detune 7 ct
Sub On Off
Flt 1 Type Lowpass
Flt 1 Slope 12
Flt 1 Freq 3.41 kHz
Flt 1 Res 8.0 %
Flt 2 On On
Flt 2 Type Highpass
Flt 2 Freq 110 Hz
Env 2 Attack 1.50 s
Env 2 Decay 2.80 s
Env 2 Sustain 85 %
Env 2 Release 2.00 s
LFO 1 Rate 0.12 Hz
LFO 1 Retrigger Off
LFO 1 Sync Free
Flt 1 On On
Pewter Gleam — Wavetable — step 2
Pewter Gleam — Wavetable — step 2 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 2 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Chorus-Ensemble →

Step 03 / 5

Apply Chorus-Ensemble

Select the mode, then set Rate, Amount and Dry/Wet. Rate controls the speed of movement, Amount controls its depth and Width sets its stereo spread. The high-pass setting limits the low-frequency content entering the chorus.

Control Value
Mode Ensemble
Rate 0.41 Hz
Amount 25 %
Dry/Wet 30 %
Warmth 15 %
HP On On
HP Freq 220 Hz
Width 110 %

Place Chorus-Ensemble after Wavetable. The complete settings include its remaining controls.

Pewter Gleam — Chorus-Ensemble — step 3
Pewter Gleam — Chorus-Ensemble — step 3 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 3 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Reverb →

Step 04 / 5

Apply Reverb

Set decay, room size and Dry/Wet for the surrounding space. Predelay separates the direct attack from the room. Input filtering shapes what excites the reverb, while diffusion and high-frequency damping change the density and brightness of its tail.

Control Value
Predelay 22.0 ms
In Lo Cut On Off
In Hi Cut On Off
Diff. Hi Freq 3.50 kHz
HiShelf Gain 0.60
Density High
Freeze On Off
Decay Time 2.48 s
Room Size 85.00
Dry/Wet 24 %

Place Reverb after Chorus-Ensemble. The complete settings include its remaining controls.

Pewter Gleam — Reverb — step 4
Pewter Gleam — Reverb — step 4 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 4 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Utility →

Step 05 / 5

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 2.43 dB
DC Filter On
Bass Mono On
Bass Freq 180 Hz

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

Pewter Gleam — Utility — step 5
Pewter Gleam — Utility — step 5 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 5 — WebM/Opus

Audio & settings ↓

Audio & settings

Audio recordings and settings for this tutorial.