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Tutorial 112 / Ableton Live

Build Porcelain Steps

Porcelain Steps is a mallet keyboard sound made with Collision, Reverb and Utility.

4 stepsCollisionLive 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

Excite the first resonator

Set the mallet’s stiffness, noise and level, then choose the first resonator model. Its decay, material and brightness shape the main ringing tone. Hit and listening positions change which resonances are emphasized.

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

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

Control Value
Voices 8
PB Range +2 st
Volume -9.0 dB
Mallet On/Off On
Mallet Volume -12 dB
Mallet Volume < Vel 60 %
Mallet Stiffness 38 %
Mallet Stiffness < Vel 20 %
Mallet Noise Amount 15 %
Mallet Noise Color 40 %
Res 1 On/Off On
Res 1 Type Marimba
Res 1 Quality High
Res 1 Decay 1.50 s
Res 1 Off Decay 40 %
Res 1 Material 0.18
Res 1 Brightness -12 %
Res 1 Hit 28 %
Res 1 Listening L 35 %
Res 1 Listening R 65 %
Res 1 Volume -6.0 dB
MW Dest A Mallet Stiffness
MW Amt A 15 %
Res 2 On/Off Off
Noise On/Off Off
Porcelain Steps — Collision — step 1
Porcelain Steps — Collision — step 1 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 1 — WebM/Opus

Next: Blend the second resonator →

Step 02 / 4

Blend the second resonator

Enable resonator 2 using the states below, then choose its model, tuning, decay and level. Keep the listed Structure setting: it determines how the two resonators interact. A quiet second resonator adds a contrasting overtone without obscuring the primary pitch.

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
Structure 1 + 2
Noise On/Off Off
Res 2 On/Off On
Res 2 Type Beam
Res 2 Quality High
Res 2 Tune +12 st
Res 2 Decay 450 ms
Res 2 Off Decay 35 %
Res 2 Material 0.10
Res 2 Brightness -20 %
Res 2 Inharmonics 8.0 %
Res 2 Volume -24 dB
Porcelain Steps — Collision — step 2
Porcelain Steps — Collision — step 2 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 2 — WebM/Opus

Next: Apply Reverb →

Step 03 / 4

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 12.0 ms
In Lo Cut On Off
In Hi Cut On Off
Diff. Hi Freq 4.50 kHz
HiShelf Gain 0.60
Density High
Freeze On Off
Decay Time 1.60 s
Room Size 58.00
Dry/Wet 18 %

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

Porcelain Steps — Reverb — step 3
Porcelain Steps — Reverb — 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 -4.51 dB
DC Filter On
Bass Mono On
Bass Freq 160 Hz

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

Porcelain Steps — Utility — step 4
Porcelain Steps — Utility — step 4 · Select image to enlarge

Sound after step 4 — WebM/Opus

Audio & settings ↓

Audio & settings

Audio recordings and settings for this tutorial.