A Short Course In Massive Chord Creation

Massive Chord: The Easy Way

In the more popular strands of EDM, we often come across vast walls of sound and chord leads. They can support a vocal solid part in a breakdown/build-up or over the drop as the central element. Although there's not one single way to recreate this sound, this article will go over some steps in Massive. This will put you on track to making your massive chord leads. Once you play the patch, go ahead and tweak it in any way you want; this is the only way to create your characteristic sound.   When working with large sounds like this, it is good practice to split the spectrum of the sound up into two or three different layers. In this particular example, I will use two: a chord layer and a bass layer that supports it.  

Layer 1: The Chord

I'll create a new MIDI track with Massive and pencil in some chords. This will allow us to derive our final patch from the initial Massive patch without triggering notes constantly.   This particular progression of chords is in G minor. It goes from the tonic "G -" to "Ebmaj7," the chord based on the 6th degree of the G minor scale.  

 

Now, in Massive, I'll set up the first two oscillators. There are plenty of parameter settings to choose from, and different combinations have different characteristics. I'll make oscillator one (OSC1) a "Disto" wave with all three parameters set to the maximum value. I'll make oscillator two (OSC2) an "Additive 1" wave, pitched an octave up (to give the sound a bigger range) with the wavetable position and intensity set to maximum and the amp volume a little after 2 o'clock.  

 

In the volume envelope (4 Env), I will set the Sustain (Decay Level) to maximum (so that the whole energy of the sound will be sustained for the duration of the note) and decrease the attack ever so slightly (to smooth out the transient of the chord).  

 

In the voicing tab, I'll crank up the unison to 8 voices and enable Pitch Cutoff and Pan Position to give the sound depth. Panning the voices using the pan position will spread them across the stereo field, simulating a full sound. At this point, the issue that arises is phasing. The voices will interact with each other constructively and destructively (See Blog: Phase and Phasing), causing an imbalanced stereo image. To reduce this effect, we can detune the voices by sliding the Pitch Cutoff fader to the right just a few notches.  

 

I will add a bit of vibrato by going to the "OSC" tab, turning the vibrato rate up past 12 o'clock and the depth up a little. This feature periodically deviates the center pitch of an oscillator to give the sound a little more movement.  

 

To change the character of the source, I'll add some phase modulation to the oscillator one.  

 

Then, I'll add some noise by turning the color knob to full and the amp knob to about 9 o'clock on the noise module. This will layer a discrete band of white noise to the high frequencies. It helps by occupying gaps in the high range of the frequency spectrum and adds energy to the overall sound. To help blend this white noise layer in with the sound of the oscillators, I will add a P shaper in Insert 2.   Finally, in the FX 1 tab, I will add a Chorus Ensemble with the dry/wet at 9 o'clock and the depth down to 10 o'clock. This will give the lead even more depth and movement. Make FX 2 a Reverb with the color turned up and the dry/wet just past 8 o'clock. This will magnify the impression of size.  

Layer 2: The Bass

We now have a solid chord layer. However, to take advantage of the entire spectrum, we must add a support layer occupying the low mids. I will start by dropping an instance of Massive on a new MIDI track. Then, write out a bassline that supports the chords from part 1. Since there are only two chords, I'll have the bassline consist simply of the root of each chord (G, Eb). It will be played in the same rhythm as the chords in the other layer.  

 

Now, in Massive, I will start by setting up the oscillator. In this case, I will use only one oscillator set to Drive 1 with all three parameters at the maximum setting.  

 

In the envelope tab, I will increase the sustain and reduce the attack. This time, I won't set the sustain quite at maximum because the bass sound is a bit harsh. We want to give all the layers room to breathe throughout the envelope.  

 

In the voicings tab, I'll add a second voice to spread the sound out. Now, I'll turn the Pitch Cutoff and Pan Position on and slide them to the right like in the picture below. The detune will help reduce phasing. In addition, the position will pan the voices left and right, respectively, to widen the sound.  

 

As with the chord lead, I'll add some phase modulation to the bass to change the characteristic quality of the sound.  

 

I'll add a P-shaper to insert two for the same reason. It will help eliminate some of the mids and focus on the lower frequencies of the bass layer. It will also keep the bass out of the way of the chords sitting on top.  

 

Finally, I will add some Chorus in FX1. Like in layer 1, it adds some movement to the layers. However, this time, I will turn the depth down to 0. You don't want the bass moving too much; as a support layer, it has to be firm.  

External Effects:

Processing the Chord Layer

 

Now that we've modeled the sound within Massive, we can add some effects from the DAW or plug-ins to strengthen and blend the two layers. Starting with the chord layer, I will add an instance of Equilibre, a free third-party EQ that supports mid-side processing. High-pass is critical for the chord layer. It blocks out frequencies below the cutoff so they do not interfere with the bass layer. Peak 2 will attenuate frequencies around 500 Hz but only for mid-information (information common to both the left and right channels). This will help widen the sound and, in the context of a whole track, will create space for a mid-range vocal.

Finally, I'll boost the highs on the high shelf but only for side information (information that differs between the left and right channels). Again, this will support the impression of width.  

 

After the EQ, I'll add a compressor to modify the dynamic range of the sound. With the attack set at 2ms, the compressor will let very abrupt transients through even if they exceed the threshold. Since the compressor is placed after the reverb (which is within the synth itself), the sound of the reverb will also be compressed. Additionally, with a relatively short release time (50ms), the reverb will return to its normal level in the gaps between notes. Boosting the gain on the compressor will make the reverb sound even louder than the synth. This is because the compressor limits dynamic range. Without it, there is a more significant difference between the level of the reverb tails and the level of the synth. Enabling compression reduces the difference and makes them change together.  

Processing the Bass Layer

I did not do a lot of effect processing on the bass layer outside of the synth. This is because I usually do it to improve the overall mix of total production. The only element to blend the bass with is the chord layer. With this in mind, the most logical step was to reduce the highs in the sides where, in the chord layer, they are boosted. By using mid-side processing, the synth will retain its midrange content. Yet, it won't interfere with the high-range content in the chord layer. This allows the two layers to sit tightly in the mix without muddiness.  

   

There you have it! Designing big leads in Massive can be a daunting task at first. However, when you get familiar with the synth's features, you realize it consists of straightforward steps (modules). Understanding the signal flow step by step will help you discover and design your pallet of sounds. Ultimately, this will help you define your style and artistic vision.