08One role per layer

Sound & arrangement

A sound becomes useful when its spectrum, envelope and musical role leave room for the other layers. Arrangement is then mostly controlled addition and subtraction.

Synth roles

Role	Source	Envelope / filter	Main controls
kick	sine / triangle	pitch envelope ↓ · short decay	tune · decay
bass	saw / square	low-pass	cutoff · resonance · gate
acid	saw / square	resonant LPF · fast filter env	cutoff · env amount · slide
stab	saw / supersaw	short amp decay · LP/BP	minor/sus shape · send
arp	saw / pulse / FM	short gate · often high-pass	rate · octave · cutoff
pad	wide saw	long attack + release	voicing · width · reverb

FM in one table

Carrier : modulator	Result	Modulation index
`1 : 1`	harmonic / familiar	`low → soft` `high → metallic / noisy`
`2 : 1`	bright
`3 : 1`	metallic
`non-integer`	inharmonic

build-up targetincrease FM indexThe spectrum grows without changing the note pattern.

Eight-stage live arrangement

Layer sequencekick → + hat → + bass → + perc → + arp → + chord → − kick → DROP

kick

+ hat

+ bass

+ perc

+ arp

+ chord

− kick

DROP

build tension ↑hat densityfilter cutoffresonancearp octavereverb senddelay feedbackFM index

make room ↓kickbasslow frequenciesnote density

1–4 beats before dropsilenceor lead onlyor noiseor reverb tailthen kick + bass

Minimal live-set state

harmonyminor · m7 · sus2 · sus4 · powerfive reusable shapes

root0 · 3 · 5 · 7 · 8 · 10six destinations

bass0 · 3 · 5 · 7 · 10 · 12six useful offsets

lead0 3 7 10 | 2 5 8 | 1 6 11land | pass | tension

arrangement rulechange fewer things, at different ratesRhythm can move every step while harmony waits sixteen or thirty-two.