This is a tutorial on how to produce a specific sound using the Chillbean method, a method that I accidentally invented during the making of one of my tracks.
One day, while I was in front of the Institut français in Sofia, the alarm of the institute sounded. It was a complex, multi frequency oscillated alarm and as a producer, I had no choice but to whip my phone out and record it.
I put the recording in my DAW, FL Studio at the time, and started messing around with it, until I had a track that satisfied me.
You will find below a description of what I did in detail.
1. Record an alarm sound, doesn’t matter whether it’s a firetruck, a store entry alarm, a military drill etc.
2. Put the recording into your DAW of choice, I recommend FL Studio because of its effect rack.
3. Depending on your recording length and your project’s tempo, stretch the recording significantly. This will effectively lower its frequency and length, making a sharp noise rather soft and stealthy.
4. Add a cutoff gate to it – either low-pass or volume control automation, setting it at 1/8 for optimal results, can be lower, can be higher.
5. Add effects to taste, I like either distorting the signal and then putting some reverb on it, or adding flanger and then ring-modulating that.
6. EQ as well; maybe side-chaining too.
7. Finally, make some volume modulation and dry/wet mix of the whole signal change around the track, I do this in a way that suits my drums;
ex.(7) -> Sidechain to kicks, flicker before snares.
And that’s it. You can make use of any alarm that you hear and record, effectively spicing up your tracks!
