Arpeggiators have been vital in great tunes for decades since they quickly and easily break down a track’s chords into multi-note blocks and brilliant cascading melodies. They can also give any static sound a shimmering life. In the following tutorial, I’ll show you how to create an atmosphere with a simple arp.
As an illustration, I have prepared a short sequence in our SoundBridge: DAW, which contains most instruments of the whole mix, including the simple arp sequence. Let us listen to it in the context of the full mix and then solo.
~Arp Sequence – Solo (Unprocessed)
Use a Delay to Create an Atmosphere With a Simple Arp
To add some movement to this arp sequence, I’ll start by processing it with a simple delay. Following that, I filtered some low frequencies and used the Tal-Dub delay effect. Let’s see how that sounds.
~Arp Sequence – Solo (Delay)
The reverse delay effect will be the following effect in our plugin chain. It’s an excellent tool for pushing sounds into the background. I used GVST’s reverse delay, which has simple controls, as shown in the image below. With that, I should point out that to keep the arp sequence in the background. I purposefully reduced the dry signal’s value while increasing the wet signal’s value.
~Arp Sequence – Solo (Delay+Reverse Delay)
I’ll finally process my newly created atmospheric sound with additional filter and reverb effects because I want it to move as much as possible. Next, I’ll then be using a band-pass filter. Also, I’ll automate the frequency parameter; the reverb will be the final effect in the chain. Let us hear the final result solo and then in the context of the whole mix.
~Arp Sequence – Solo (Delay+Reverse Delay+Filter+Reverb)
~Full Mix – Arp Sequence (Fully Processed)
If you liked this article about audio processing, here are some more on the same subject:
