# Sound Recipe - Found-Sound and Sampling (Musique Concrète)

## Target

Record real-world sounds — metal, glass, water, fire, doors, household objects, your own voice/body, the room itself — and transform them into musical elements: drums, basses, pads, risers, textures, and transitions. This is the Alan Wilder / Depeche Mode approach (famously sampling banged metal, sprayed cans, even fireworks) and the broader musique concrète / Trent Reznor / Matmos tradition.

The point: a kick built from a slammed door, a pad from a bowed wine glass, or a riser from a recorded firework sounds *expensive and unique* because nobody else has that sample.

The results should feel:

- Organic and physical (real-world origin)
- Unfamiliar but musical (transformed, tuned, in key)
- Signature (your own sound library)
- Textured and dimensional

Follows the house method: **intention → source (what + which mic) → capture → import/edit → transform → tune/route → automation → taste checks.**

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## Which Mic to Use (and how)

| Source | Mic | Why / How |
|---|---|---|
| **Loud / percussive / impacts** (slams, metal hits, fireworks, breaking glass, claps, stomps) | **SM57** | Handles high SPL, tough, rejects room. Get back a bit; the -10 dB pad lives on the Twin87, so for very loud stuff prefer the dynamic. For fireworks: distance + dynamic, protect the mic, expect to clean it up. |
| **Detailed / quiet / resonant textures** (bowed glass, cymbal scrapes, water drips, paper, breath, small objects) | **UT Twin87** (Cardioid, get close) | Condenser detail captures the subtle high-frequency life that makes textures interesting. |
| **Room tone / ambience / "the space"** | **Twin87 (Omni)** | Captures the natural room as a usable texture or to glue layers. |
| **Stereo-ish / null out one noise** | **Twin87 (Fig-8)** | Point the null at a fan/AC; or duet-style capture of two objects. |
| **Outdoors / handheld / rough conditions** | **SM58** | Ball windscreen handles wind/handling better; rugged. |
| **Anything when in doubt** | **SM58 or SM57** | Dynamics are nearly indestructible and forgiving of bad rooms. |

Safety note for loud sources (fireworks, big impacts): keep distance, engage the pad/lower gain, never point an expensive condenser at a blast — use the SM57/SM58 and accept lo-fi; you'll transform it anyway.

### Capture settings (Apollo Twin)

- Track with plenty of headroom: peaks **-12 to -6 dBFS** (transients from impacts spike — leave room).
- Record **dry and clean**; do all transformation in the box.
- Mono is fine for hits/drums; use a pair or Omni for textures/room.
- Grab **lots of takes/variations** — you're building a library.

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## Core Workflows (recipes within the recipe)

### 1. Found Percussion Kit (metal/objects → tuned drums)

1. Record 10–20 hits (different objects, velocities) on the **SM57**.
2. Import into **Logic Quick Sampler** (or **XLN XO** / **NI Battery 4**). One-shot mode.
3. **Tune** the key hits to the song key (Quick Sampler pitch / Pro-Q to find the fundamental).
4. Shape: **transient design** (UAD SPL Transient Designer / Newfangled Punctuate) for attack; **Pro-Q 4** to carve.
5. Character: **iZotope Trash** (clang/metal), **RC-20** (lo-fi), **UAD Culture Vulture** (grit).
6. Layer a clean kick/snare under your found hits for body (see the [Depeche Mode / Machine Rhythm](../drums/depeche-mode-machine-rhythm.md) recipe).

### 2. Found-Sound Pad / Drone (sustained texture)

1. Record a sustaining/resonant source (bowed glass, hum, feedback, vocal "ahh") on the **Twin87**.
2. Drop into **Logic Alchemy** or **Sample Alchemy** (granular) — or **Arturia Pigments** granular engine.  
   **Deep Lab alternative:** **discoDSP Vertigo** — FFT resynthesis + **spectral control** (edit individual harmonics over time). See [21 - Plugin Evaluation](../../reference/21-plugin-evaluation.md#discodsp-vertigo-5). Commit audio before returning to the cookbook.
3. **Time-stretch / freeze / granular-spray** into an evolving pad; map across the keyboard.
4. Add motion: **ShaperBox 3** filter/volume; send to **Lexicon PCM / Eventide Blackhole** for space.
5. Tune to key; layer under synth pads for an organic-hybrid bed.

### 3. Impact / Riser / Transition (fireworks, slams, sweeps)

1. Capture the impact/whoosh (**SM57** for the bang; **Twin87 Omni** for a room whoosh).
2. **Reverse** it for a suck-in before a downbeat.
3. **Time-stretch** long for a riser; **pitch-automate** up into the drop.
4. Drench in **Eventide Blackhole / UltraTap** (reverse/swell) and **iZotope Cascadia**.
5. Print and place at section starts — one signature transition per song.

### 4. Found Bass (pitch resonant objects down)

1. Record a resonant low object (thump, large metal, sub-y room boom) on the **SM57** or **Twin87**.
2. Pitch **down an octave or two** (Quick Sampler / Logic Pitch Shifter / Alchemy).
3. High-pass the noise, blend with a clean sine sub (Diva) for tuning and weight.
4. Distort the upper bass only (Culture Vulture / Trash) — keep the sub clean.

### 5. Texture / Ear-Candy Layer

1. Capture small sounds (zips, clicks, breath, paper, water) on the **Twin87** close-up.
2. Edit tightly in **RX 12** (remove noise/clicks you don't want).
3. Sprinkle as panned ear-candy; automate sends to delay/reverb for movement.
4. Low blend — these are seasoning, not the meal.

### 6. Build Your First Custom Instrument (reusable patch)

Use this when one found sound should **play musically across the keyboard** — soft taps to hard hits, or a pitched object you want to reuse on future songs. Different from workflow 1 (one-shots in Quick Sampler) or workflow 2 (granular pad in Alchemy).

**Pick a source:** one object with clear pitch or useful timbre change across velocity — metal bar, wood block, bowed glass note, vocal consonant, pipe hit.

#### Fast path — Logic Sampler (start here)

1. **Record 5–10 takes** of the same source at different intensities (ghost tap → full hit) on the **SM57** (impacts) or **Twin87** (resonant). Peaks **-12 to -6 dBFS**.
2. **Trim** starts/ends in Logic; optional **RX 12** cleanup on noisy tails.
3. Create a **Software Instrument** track → load **Sampler** (not Quick Sampler).
4. **Drag** the trimmed files onto the keyboard in Sampler's zone view — one zone per take, or stack takes as **velocity layers** on the same key range.
5. Set **root key** (where the sample plays at original pitch). Enable **Key Tracking** for pitched sources; disable for pure noise hits.
6. For impacts: **One Shot** mode, short release. For bowed/sustained sources: set loop points or switch to **Sample Alchemy** (workflow 2) instead.
7. **Tune** to your song key (Sampler fine-tune, or Pro-Q on the track).
8. **Save the patch** (Sampler → Save As) — name it by source + key (`Metal-Bar-C`). You now have a reusable instrument.

#### When to stay on Quick Sampler instead

- One hit for one song, chopped break, or pitched percussion grid → **Quick Sampler** (workflows 1 and the [Knife / Pitched Percussion Grid](../drums/knife-silent-shout-pitched-percussion-grid.md))
- Evolving texture, not a playable instrument → **Sample Alchemy / Alchemy** (workflow 2)

#### Optional upgrade — Steinberg HALion 7

Consider HALion only if Logic Sampler's zone editing feels slow, or you want **record → map → layer** in one plugin without bouncing through Logic tracks:

- **Record inside HALion** while building zones
- **Velocity layers + round-robins** with less manual import juggling
- **Sample + synth hybrid** in one rack (e.g. bowed-glass sample + granular layer)

HALion is **Deep Lab / situational** for this guide — not a cookbook default. Try Logic Sampler first; demo HALion if step 4–6 above annoy you.

**Taste checks:** Does soft playing sound different from hard playing? Does the pitch stay musical across at least an octave? Would you reach for this patch on the next song — if not, it was a one-shot job; stay on Quick Sampler next time.

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## Transformation Toolbox

- **Sampler/granular:** Logic Quick Sampler (one-shots/chops), Logic Sampler (multi-velocity instruments), Sample Alchemy, Alchemy; Arturia Pigments; XLN XO; NI Battery 4
- **Custom instrument builder (optional):** Steinberg HALion 7 — if Logic Sampler zone editing is too slow; record-in-plugin sandbox
- **Pitch/stretch:** Quick Sampler, Logic Pitch Shifter / Time/Pitch Machine, Alchemy
- **Repair/edit:** iZotope RX 12 (clean captures so the *musical* part shines)
- **Character:** iZotope Trash, RC-20 Retro Color, UAD Culture Vulture, Logic Ringshifter/Spectral Gate
- **Motion:** ShaperBox 3, Stutter Edit 2, Devious Machines Infiltrator
- **Space:** Lexicon PCM, Eventide Blackhole / ShimmerVerb / UltraTap, iZotope Cascadia
- **Convolution trick:** load your own recording as an IR in **Logic Space Designer** to "play a room/object" as reverb

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## Routing

- Treat found elements like any track: carve with Pro-Q, glue similar ones on a bus, share the song's reverb world via sends.
- Keep extreme processing (Trash/Blackhole) on **duplicates**, blended in.
- Tune pitched/resonant captures to the key so they read as musical.

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## Automation

- Filter sweeps and send rides turn a static texture into an arrangement event
- Reverse/riser prints at transitions
- Mute/dropouts before section changes for impact

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## Adjustment Rules

**Sounds like noise, not music:** tune it to key, EQ out the ugly resonances, commit to one transformed identity (drum OR pad OR bass).

**Too lo-fi/dirty:** that's often good — but if unwanted, RX clean-up + gentler character processing.

**Too clean/boring:** granular it, pitch it, reverse it, drench it, distort a parallel.

**Doesn't sit in the mix:** layer with a clean synth/drum element for body and tuning anchor.

**Lost in a sea of textures:** fewer, louder, more intentional — one signature found-sound per section beats ten.

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## Common Mistakes

- Pointing a condenser at a blast/impact (use the SM57/58)
- Recording too hot (transients clip)
- Capturing in a bad room when you wanted a clean source (or vice versa)
- Hoarding samples but never transforming/tuning them
- Burying the song under texture for its own sake

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## Closest Tools I Own

Mics: SM57 (loud/impacts), SM58 (rugged/outdoor), UT Twin87 (detail/room), UAD Apollo Twin
Sampler/granular: Logic Quick Sampler / Sampler / Sample Alchemy / Alchemy, Arturia Pigments, XLN XO, NI Battery 4
Custom instrument builder (optional): Steinberg HALion 7
Edit: iZotope RX 12
Character: iZotope Trash, XLN RC-20, UAD Culture Vulture, Logic Ringshifter / Spectral Gate / Beat Breaker
Motion: ShaperBox 3, Stutter Edit 2, Devious Machines Infiltrator
Space: Lexicon PCM, Eventide Blackhole / ShimmerVerb / UltraTap, iZotope Cascadia, Logic Space Designer (custom IRs)

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## Practical Summary

Use the SM57/58 for loud impacts and rough conditions, and the Twin87 for detailed textures and room — always record clean with headroom, then transform in the box. Sample hits into a tuned drum kit, granular a resonant source into a pad, reverse an impact into a riser, or pitch an object down into a bass. When a sound deserves a **reusable playable instrument**, map velocity layers in **Logic Sampler** and save the patch; consider **HALion** only if that workflow feels tedious. Tune everything to key, layer with a clean anchor for body, and keep one or two signature found-sounds per song. The unique origin is what makes it sound expensive — the magic is in the transformation, not the recording.

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## Related Pages

- [Creative Effects and Transitions](../../production/11-creative-effects-and-transitions.md)
- [Drums and Percussion](../../instruments/10-drums-and-percussion.md)
- [Synths and Keys](../../instruments/08-synths-and-keys.md)
- [Sound Recipe - Depeche Mode / Machine Rhythm](../drums/depeche-mode-machine-rhythm.md)
- [Sound Recipe - UT Twin87 Vocal Recording](../vocals/ut-twin87-vocal-recording.md)
- [Sound Recipe - Dynamic Mic Vocals (SM57 / SM58)](../vocals/dynamic-mic-vocals-sm57-sm58.md)