How to Create a DeadMau5 style Pluck in Ableton

DeadMau5 is considered one of the premiere producers of modern electronic music.  One of his ‘go-to’ sounds is a synthesized pluck.  Listen to any of his hits and you’ll undoubtedly come across it at some point.  The most popular synth for creating this type of sound is probably Sylenth1, but you can easily create it in Ableton’s Operator as well.

Take a listen to the sound we’ll create:

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Let’s get started…

Step 1 – Setup your Oscillator

In this case, all we need is Oscillator A.  Set this to a Square 6 waveform and reduce the Decay of your envelope to about 588 ms.  Lower your Peak to -4.8 dB.

Step 2 – Setup your Filter

Choose High SVF for your filter type.  Set your Frequency to 92.1 Hz and your Resonance to 1.51.  Change your Shaper to Hard and reduce your Drive to – 6.4 dB.

Lastly, max out your Spread to 100%.

Essentially, this is the core of our sound.  Now, all we need to do is add some Ping Pong Delay and Reverb to create that ‘larger than life’ feel.

Step 3 – Add Ping Pong Delay

You don’t need to get crazy with your Delay (unless that’s the effect you’re going for).  A simple 1/4th or 1/8th delay with a mild Dry/Wet mix will do the trick.

Step 4 – Add some Reverb

For Reverb, we chose the preset ‘Parallel Walls’ and reduced the Dry/Wet mix considerably.  We also activated the Chorus parameter to create more width.

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Summary

Experimenting with different waveforms is a good way to alter the character of your pluck.  Go back to your Oscillator and try testing out different saw and sine waves.  For extra flair, you can throw on a Phaser or Flanger as well.

We hope you found this tutorial beneficial!  Check back for more great info from LoopGalaxy.com!

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