Create Ultrabeat hi-hats and cymbals

Electronic hi-hat sounds are easy to create in Ultrabeat.

Create a hi-hat in Ultrabeat

  1. Load the Standard Tutorial sound.

  2. Turn off oscillator 1 and turn on the noise generator.

  3. In the noise generator, make sure the Cutoff parameter is modulated by Env 1, the modulation is negative, and the position of the Mod slider is below that of the base parameter value.

    Figure. Hi-hat oscillator settings.
  4. Use rather short decay values for Env 1 and Env 4.

  5. Set the attack time of Env 4 to a value of 0. The attack time of Env 1 should also be rather short, but not equal to 0.

    Note: You’ll find a similarly constructed sound listed as “hihat 1” at a pitch of F2 in the Tutorial Kit. Also analyze the hi-hat sound “hihat 2” at pitch F#2.

Create cymbals in Ultrabeat

It’s not far from the hi-hat to the crash cymbal. The main difference between a hi-hat and crash cymbal sound is the length of the decay time. Correct assignment of the envelopes is the key to producing different cymbal sounds.