Envelopes, Builds, and Sidechain Effect in NI Massive

A nice quick video sharing how to better understand and use the envelopes within Native Instruments Massive synth to create effects and gain more control over how a sound develops.

This is a great video tutorial for those who are new to using NI Massive or for people wanting to get a better working knowledge of how the different parts of the program interact with each other to create sounds. It quickly shows how to use the main amp envelope to control and manipulate the overall sound being generated by Massive. It then moves into showing how to change settings, assign the envelopes to modulate various parameters throughout the synth and explains some practical applications of the ideas presented.

It finishes up showing how to achieve a ‘sidechain’ kind of effect, which is really just a long attack deliver on a sound. Sidechaining is actually a technique applied to a sound that allows MIDI information to control a variety of possible parameters depending upon the plugin or program being used at the time. One of the more common uses of sidechaining is to use the kick drum to control a ducking effect in a bass or synth sound in a song to let the kick stand out more, as well as produce a throbbing or pulsing effect.

Using an envelope to manipulate, modulate or alter a synth instrument is no different than how it is used in designing a single sound, and anything you can do through twisting knobs is easily automated by applying an envelope as a controller within Massive. This is one of the key features of this amazing synth, and the fact that you can assign multiple controllers to a single parameter and/or one controller to several parameters to allow for even and controlled modulation over time is a powerful option to have at the ready.

If you have cool tricks like these that you enjoy using with NI Massive, please let us know and we can help you share them with the rest of the MassiveSynth.com community. Just shoot us a message to get the ball rolling. We are always happy to hear from our community members!

Cheers,
ΩhmLab