NI Massive Arpeggiation Melody Tutorial

Not only is this a great sound, and a well presented tutorial, but it also helps to demystify the process of using the Stepper as a way to create NI Massive arpeggiation for your projects. This can save you programming time later on and gives you control over the way the sequence is designed. Using an 8-bit sound is brilliant for this example of setting it all up, but keep in mind that this same exact technique can be used with other sounds just as well and can easily be implemented in just about any music genre. Once you’ve successfully followed along with the lesson and recreated this sound, you should definitely go back and begin experimenting with different keys and chords.

This sound starts out with loading a Sine-Square wavetable into OSC1. The default Square-Saw I wavetable is loaded into OSC2 and the pitch is dropped one octave. A Roughtmath II wavetable is loaded into OSC3 and the pitch is turned up one octave. All three oscillators are routed directly to Filter1, and the Amp of each one is turned all the way down for now (it will be modulated later on).

A Parabolic Shaper is inserted to accentuate the edge of the synth. A small amount of feedback is also introduced before the filter is set up. Now an Acid filter is loaded into Filter1, and the Cutoff is opened all the way up.

A Small Reverb is loaded into FX1 to provide a little more room for the sound to move around in. A Synced Delay is used to extend the sound. The EQ tab is turned on and is used to better shape the sound.

Now a Performer is set up and assigned to modulate the Amp knob of all three main oscillators, resulting in a rhythmic feel in the synth’s delivery. And lastly, a Stepper is set up and assigned to modulate the pitch value of each of the oscillators. So as the sequence in the Stepper plays out, the synth moves up in pitch following the scale laid out in the controller.

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OhmLab