For my final project i used the sounds recorded from a car to make a beat. Each part of the car represented a different part of a drum kit for example the bonnet worked well as a kick. This will show you how i used effects available in Adobe Audition to create a drum sound. In previous posts i have looked at how effects and EQ can be used to change the sound and how i have used available features such as the pitch shifter to create a distinctive melody line out of and everyday object such as the beep on a car park ticket machine. (This was used in the car track). I am going to cover how to take the original recording of a car bonnet closing and turn it into a workable and useable drum sample.
All of the drum samples are below the text i will point out by using bold text the times when you may go listen to the specific sample.
The first step was to shorten the initial sample to the length of a drum sound. Luckily the sound already has the characteristics of a drum with the fast attack and release. After shortening this an EQ was added with the settings found in Image 1. I tended to boost many of the lower frequencies mainly around the 63Hz range. This gave the bonnet a lot fuller and thicker sound much like a kick drum. The sound of a kick drum was what i was aiming for. The Original sound and the EQ bonnet close sound can be found on track 1 and 2 of the audio file below.
After giving the sound the lower frequency boost i went about adding a very short Delay/Echo. This thickens out the sound and gives it a more natural feel. The settings i used are like they are in Image 2. The example of this short delay can be found on track 3 on the audio file below. It was very important to get the delay right as too much ruined the drum sound where as too little had no effect at all. Eventually a slap back style echo was settled upon as this best thickened the sound.
The final step was to add Reverb to the sound. This not only aided in blending and thickening the sound but it also added to the natural feel of the sound much like the one you get with a real drum kit. The settings for the reverb can be found in Image 3. Â The reverb i used is very slight and very dry. Too much can muddy the sound losing the important click effect often found on a kick drum. The track with the Reverb added can be found below on track 4 of the audio file.
Below are all the tracks in order of how the sound progresses from the original to being the finished drum sound.
Editing the sound of a car bonnet closing. by Bennheiser
