subject: Be A Dj - Filters In Home Music Recording & Creation [print this page] The filter is one of a producer's must have tools in their arsenal. Filters allow you to greatly shape the sound that you are effecting, by isolating certain frequencies from the ones that remain. Subtractive synthesis was founded on this idea, and the result of their influence was been seen in just many synthetic music pieces over the years. All frequencies that we hear reach a cut off point, which is the main part control of the filter. There are many different types of filters that can be used in combination with each other to get some pretty drastically altered sounds.
When a band is put on all of the frequencies, where only the centre ranged frequencies can pass, it is called a band pass filter. Every frequency except for this part will be removed.
The most commonly used filter is the low pass. They allow all of the frequencies that reside below the cut-off point to pass through the mixer.
When a band keeps the centre frequencies from being allowed to pass, it is known as a notch filter.
It is easy to see that there would be an opposite filter than the low pass, and you are right. The high pass filter allows all of the frequencies that reside above the cut-off point to pass through the mixer.
The effect of a filter is greatly determined by the level of attenuation. These levels of attenuation are usually 6dB, 12dB, 18dB, and 24dB for each octave. When the height of the peak is increased, the filter's effect is more apparent. An example would be when a high pitch like a 2000Hz is compared to its lower octave 100Hz. That means that you get double the response with a 34dB filter than you would with a 12dB variety.
Frequency reduction is not accomplished very easily with a 2 pole filter. The higher number of poles that a 4 pole filter has attenuating the signal, means that you are able to create a silenced muted version of your sound. You can also increase the frequency with the use of resonance, which creates peaks, and is another widely used feature of the filter.
Boosting increases the set frequency by self oscillating its very own sine wave. Not all filters self oscillate, but many of the newer VST filters that are being developed are having this as a standard for their filters.
It is possible to make a filter sweep by syncing it to a low frequency oscillator, or LFO. This is one of the ways that makes it possible to get the dirty basslines that are being used for such electronic music genres as Dubstep. Not all filters have the ability to sync to the various routed modulation sources, such as the LFO, amplifier, tracking, or envelope. There is still a lot that can be accomplished expressively if you know how to teak the resonance in opposition with the cutoff frequency. The use of filters will continue to be prevalent for many more years.
