Need help remembering how to create an effect.

[RedSand]

I haven't tried any composing for a few years now and a lot of what I was able to teach myself back then has been pretty much forgotten. So I'm hoping for a little push in the right direction.

I'm trying to create this effect on an electronic bass tab in a song I'm writing but cannot remember if I did it with phaser or flanger or what. Here's an example of what I'm trying to do:

The song is by the band Ohgr and the effect initially kicks in around the :32 mark on the underlying synth. To be more specific (and rookie sounding) it sounds like someone hitting the mute button really fast while the synth plays one long drawn out note.

I hope I haven't set anyone's eyes on fire with my lack of technical know-how, but I've put in the better part of 3 hours tonight just trying to remember how I got this effect to work years ago. Thanks for any help.

[Omni-Psyence]

This can be achieved by either a noise-gate or messing with the amplification envelope of the synth itself.

[Yoozer]

This is indeed achieved with a gate (if playing the notes quickly in that pattern does not achieve the desired effect. What software are you using to record and compose?

If you have your original audio signal, put a gate on it. A gate sets the volume to zero if the incoming signal is not loud enough. In the sidechain input, you put another audio signal - for instance a closed hihat or another clicky sound. The sidechain tricks the gate into believing that the incoming signal is loud enough, so the volume is set to max for the brief duration of the hihat playing, and it jumps back to zero when the sidechain is silent again.

By rhythmically playing the hihat you can get a da-da-daaa-da-da-daa pattern which is then applied to the incoming signal.

Nowadays arpeggiators of synths can do it too, but those retrigger the sound.

[Rozovian]

If you don't need any rhythmic variations, you might be able to use a tremolo effect for it. Logic's built-in tremolo lets you set the the smoothness, width, and phase of the tremolo's shape, letting you turn it into an automatic mute button in sync with the song's tempo. Before I got used to side-chaining, this was how I got sounds out of the way of the bass drum, or just added some rhythm to pads. Dunno if your tremolo has the controls necessary for this, but it's easier than learning side-chaining (not that learning side-chaining is a bad idea).

[RedSand]

Thanks for the responses. The noise gate is, as I remember now that you all mentioned it, how I went about it before. But after some fun and experimenting this time around, I achieved the same desired effect by adjusting the LFO event levels of my snth (by the way I'm using FL Studio 8xx). The tremolo technique sounds like something fun to try in my next piece.

Again, thanks for all the responses.

[Nabeel Ansari]

(by the way I'm using FL Studio 8xx).

Why? The newest version has more features and the clip system is more intuitive. You're a couple years behind. (money isn't an excuse, upgrades are free)

[Cash]

Why? The newest version has more features and the clip system is more intuitive. You're a couple years behind. (money isn't an excuse, upgrades are free)

Neblix is right, you really should upgrade.

[Yoozer]

of my snth

Care to mention which one that was for closure?