CPA Complex Racks Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
CPA Complex Racks Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
CPA Complex Racks Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
COMPLEX RACKS: ABLETON FX &
MASTERING GUIDE
CONTENTS
1) INTRO
2) BASS PROCESSING RACK
3) DNB MASTERING RACK
4) DRUM PROCESSING RACK
5) FX RACK
6) HOUSE MASTERING RACK
7) VINYLISER
8) VOCAL PROCESSING RACK
These racks have been designed to provide useful tools and inspiration for
use in Ableton Live. The mastering racks ‘DnB’ and ‘House’ have been
designed to help at the final stage of creating a track. ‘DnB’ is aimed at a
heavily processed sound whilst ‘House’ is aimed at pumping 4x4 beats.
However both provide the essential tools needed to add the final polish to any
electronic music. Our best suggestion is to experiment, turn knobs, use your
ears and see what happens!
The FX and Processing racks provide fun and useful tools to add to your
music creation experience. Improve your drum mix, add some professional
sheen to your vocals, tighten that bass sound or go wild with the Vinyliser and
introduce some analog style grit and dirt. Each rack contains 8 macros whose
functions are explained below.
Remember, some macros are dependent on each other’s position to apply an
audible effect so if you don’t hear anything changing, turn some knobs or
check back to this guide. Have fun!
BASS PROCESSING RACK
Clean Up
Tightens bottom end, removes mud and clarifies highs
Stereo Width
Adds stereo width to mid and high frequencies but leaves lower frequencies
Wobble Mod
Adds a cool wobble that speeds up with higher settings
Sub Boost
Adds more sub bass
Lo Mid Phase
Adds a phase effect to the lower mids of the bass
Lo Mid Distort
Distorts the lower mids for more growl!
Lo Mid Crush
Adds that classic bit crush sound
Overall Boost
Limits the bass to increase loudness
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
DNB MASTERING RACK
Bass Process
A combination of effects to tighten and boost the bass
Mid Process
A combination of effects to clean and enhance the mid range
Top Process
A combination of effects to sweeten and enhance the top end
Parallel Compres(s)
Adds a parallel compression effect to increase perceived loudness
Reso Hi Pass
A very tweakable filter with nicely tuned resonance for last minute edits
Clean Up EQ
Tightens bass, cleans mids and sharpens top end
Drive
Saturates the signal
Limit
Limits the overall signal to increase loudness
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
DRUM PROCESSING RACK
Crunch
Saturates the signal
Punch
Adds punchy compression
Comb Amount
Controls the amount of comb effect applied to the signal
Comb Freq
Controls the frequency of the comb effect. Will have no effect if Comb Amount
is set to zero
Kick Process
Custom Kick enhancement
Snare Process
Custom Snare enhancement
Hat Process
Custom Hats enhancement
Limit
Overall limiter for a louder signal
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
FX PROCESSING RACK
Chopper Amount
Controls amount of tempo synced 'chopper' rhythmic gating effect
Chopper Rate
Controls the speed of the chopper effect
Pitch
A crude but useful pitch effect with an octave range up and down
Ambi Verb
A nicely tuned reverb effect to smooth the racks other effects
Resynth Amount
Resynthesis effect for interesting and wild signal processing
Resynth Formant
Controls the formant of the Resynthesis effect
Freq Delay
Adds a delay effect but with different delay times for differing frequency
ranges
Mod Filter
Adds an LFO modulated low pass filter effect
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
HOUSE MASTERING RACK
Thump
Low end processing ideal for kick focused music
Crack
Mid range processing for enhanced mids
Air
Pleasantly enhances the top end
Less Mud
Cleans up the lower mids
Warmth
Adds warmth
Drive
Drives the signal for a grittier sound
Multi Comp
Adds a multiband compression effect
Drive
Saturates the signal
Limit
Increases overall loudness
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
VINYLISER
Crackle Amount
Adds a crackle effect
Crackle Density
Controls the density of the crackle effect. Does nothing if Crackle Amount is
set to zero
Surface Damage
Emulates vinyl damage from mild use to unplayable
Preamp Gain
Emulates a preamp effect
Vinyl Warping
Emulates vinyl warping
Stereo Phasing
A cool stereo effect
Warmth
Emulates a retro mastering style
Saturate
Adds a saturation effect
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide
VOCAL PROCESSING RACK
Add Body
Adds body to vocal parts
Add Presence
Adds top mid and top presence
Compress
Compression tuned for vocals
DeEss
Helps to tame ‘esses’
Drive
Vocal saturation
Phone Line
Emulates the classic phone line effect
Stereo Width
Adds more width to the vocal
Space
Adds a reverb effect
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CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Guide