What is City Pop? The Producer's Guide to Classic Japanese Pop

City Pop is one of the most fascinating genres to see a resurgence in popularity in modern music.

With roots in the sophisticated, jazz-inflected styles that emerged in Japanese cities in the late 70s, City Pop has gone global with many producers chasing its nostalgic feel into the 2020s.

But what is City Pop exactly? What are its defining features and how can you capture the sound in your own productions?

In this article, I’ll give a brief intro to City Pop, break down what makes it unique and suggest three essential techniques to help you create it.

Let’s get started.

What is City Pop?

City Pop is the term for a style of Japanese pop music that arose during a period of rapid economic growth and technological development in the 1970s and 80s.

Influenced by contemporary trends in western music, City Pop was a uniquely Japanese take on the adult-oriented genres of the 70s and 80s like funk, disco, AOR and soft rock.

As the genre progressed through the 80s, City Pop artists developed a distinctive style that combined a unique musical vocabulary with the cutting edge music technology that was being pioneered in Japan at the time.

Regarded as an important stage in the evolution of Japanese musical culture, City Pop has found a broader audience in recent times as listeners around the world rediscover its unique sound and aesthetic.

City Pop songs and artists

Although the term City Pop was rarely used during the movement’s heyday, there are dozens of landmark releases now considered touchstones of the genre.

Here are a few essential artists and tracks that highlight key aspects of the City Pop sound.

Taeko Onuki

A founding member of the band considered by some to be the original City Pop act, Taeko Onuki’s 1977 album SUNSHOWER showcases the early roots of the genre.

In the synth solo on “ Tokai” you can hear how jazz and R&B influences began to collide with new technology.

The rich polyphonic synth patch is played in a pianistic style that shows how traditional musicians were willing to embrace new sounds during the City Pop era.

Kingo Hamada

Kingo Hamada’s 1982 album midnight cruisin’ is a touchstone of the City Pop genre among original fans and revivalists.

The song “Machi no Dorufin” is the basis for the wildly popular Englewood edit “Crystal Dolphin” that took off on social media in the late 2010s.

The album highlights the escapist, tropical flavor of City Pop that has become synonymous with modern takes on the genre.

Makoto Matsushita

Incorporating the orchestral accents of 70s pop and the airtight grooves of Steely Dan, Matsushita’s 1981 single “Love Was Really Gone” shows off the sophisticated side of City Pop.

The song’s effortless solos and rich instrumentation capture the cosmopolitan feel of contemporary urban life.

How to make City Pop

City Pop may not have strict genre conventions that are easy to imitate, but it does have a recognizable feel that comes from common elements found in many classic productions.

With the background info out of the way, here are some general pointers to help you get a more authentic City Pop sound in your own productions.

1. Jazz and fusion inspired harmony

Rich, jazz-inflected chords and progressions are a defining aspect of the City Pop sound.

The Japanese artists that popularized the genre were often reacting to developments in western music that saw a creeping influence of jazz and R&B into mainstream rock and pop.

In the US, west coast jazz had evolved into the smoother, “Quiet storm” radio format and its breezy, laid-back feel was influencing pop acts like Steely Dan, Hall and Oates and McDonald-era Doobie Brothers to experiment with more complex harmony.

As City Pop developed, it picked up a harmonic vocabulary associated with these broader trends in music.

Jazz itself was changing in futuristic directions that resonated with listeners experiencing the rapid technological progress occuring in Japanese urban centers.

Forward-looking fusion acts like Weather Report and Michael Brecker’s Steps Ahead were popular among urban professionals keen to show off their brand new cassette decks and hi-fi gear.

As a result, harmonic concepts from jazz such as major 7th chords, sus4 chords, ii-V-I progressions and even tritone substitutions are often found in City Pop.

Throw in a healthy dose of the IV-V-iii-vi progression found elsewhere in Japanese pop and you’ll start to hear the essence of the sound come alive.

If you need a refresher on jazz chords and progressions, head over to this guide to get the basics: 8 R&B and Jazz Chord Progressions Every Musician Should Know.

2. 80s-style synth patches

Pioneering synthesizers were being developed alongside the rise of City Pop as Japanese companies like Roland, Yamaha and Korg led a wave of innovation in music technology.

Many of these boundary-pushing devices made their way into the hands of City Pop musicians and recording engineers during the peak of the genre.

Vintage-style monophonic and polyphonic synth patches can be heard all over records from City Pop’s 80s heyday.

If you’re looking to capture the sound, you might consider an 80s-inspired synth plugin like BA-1.

A go-to choice for retro genre heads, BA-1 was such a hit among modern City Pop producers that we created two preset packs dedicated to the style.

Check out City Pop Volumes 1 and 2 for 128 authentic 80s-style patches.

Inspired by the classic portable CS01 synth, BA-1 has instant retro feel on tap with analog-modeled sound that gives you the best of what made this era of synthesis so iconic.

Tight, but natural percussion

Most City Pop artists relied on session musicians to fill out the ensembles for albums and performances.

Drawing from the best of the best, many of the classic albums and singles feature expert rhythm sections that feel accurate, but not rigid or mechanical.

The result is a tight, human take on disco and R&B grooves with a distinctive dry sound.

To keep your own productions from feeling too sterile, avoid quantizing percussion hits directly to the grid where possible.

On top of that, consider choosing sampled loops with a more human feel rather than sequenced drum machine hits if you can.

Sonically, the drum recording techniques of the day often focused on a punchy, direct sound with ample isolation between individual microphones.

If you need some resources to help you get the 70s dry drum sound, there are plenty of excellent sample packs and tutorials to help you.

Horns, backing vocals and aux percussion

Classic City Pop often incorporated elements that signified large budget productions in the era of limited tracks and expensive analog tape.

Slick horn sections, syrupy backing harmonies and additional percussion elements helped provide the sense of a large, perfectly arranged ensemble backing the vocalist in singles like Anri’s “Remember Summer Days.”

Try stacking up multi-tracked backing vocals for important sections and punctuating transitions with horn section stabs.

City Pop nostalgia

There’s a light and carefree feel to the best City Pop tracks that’s impossible to resist.

It’s no wonder producers want to recapture a bit of that magic in their own music.

And even though you can’t travel back in time to 1980s Tokyo, you can still understand the basics of the genre and find great sounds to help you get close.

If you’ve made it through this article you’ll have a great start for producing City Pop.

Effects Rack Plugins: How to Use Multi-FX for Creative Sound Design

Effects rack plugins are a practical way to add color to your tracks with a signature style.

By combining multiple effects into a single package, you can build up unique textures quickly with a single interface.

But in addition to making it convenient to work with several effects at once, effects racks offer benefits for modern workflows.

In this article, I’ll break down the basics of effect rack plugins and explain why they’re seeing a resurgence in 2024.

Let’s get started.

What are effects racks plugins?

An effect rack plugin is a collection of individual effects within a single plugin with shared interface elements and a single set of inputs and outputs.

“An effect rack plugin is a collection of individual effects within a single plugin with shared interface elements and a single set of inputs and outputs.”

Effects racks may be fixed or flexible chains of effects in serial, parallel or modular configurations.

The term “rack” comes from the 19” rack hardware format that was common for outboard studio equipment during the analog era.

Rack effects could be easily patched in and out of an analog console to create intricate chains of cascading effects.

Today the concept of effects racks lives on in plugin form to give producers access to familiar aspects of the workflow.

Why use an effect rack?

With all the plugins out there, you may wonder what the benefit of using a multi-effect in place of individual plugins.

Here are a few things to consider if you’re not used to working with effects rack plugins:

Easier workflow

A dedicated effect rack puts a curated chain of useful devices directly at your fingertips. That means you can quickly mix and match without taking the time to search through plugins and load them individually.

On top of that, many multi-fx plugins come set up for custom routings such as wet/dry blends, or parallel signal chains.

This can make it easier to achieve specific results that might take longer to set up individually.

For example, Parallel Aggressor contains three internal signal paths—one for compression, one for saturation and a third for the dry signal. That’s a lot to configure manually in your DAW.

Sonic cohesion

With a folder full of diverse effects, stacking plugins can sometimes result in a mishmash of styles.

That’s not always a bad thing, but sometimes you need a cohesive sound that retains its character across multiple stages of processing.

Effects racks ensure that each plugin in the chain is cut from the same cloth and interacts favorable with the others.

This could mean effects with a similar sonic feel, or a specifically curated palette of possible sounds that work naturally well together.

Less option paralysis

Finally, anything is possible in the world of DAW-based music production.

The potential for creative sound design is unlimited, but that can sometimes feel like a burden.

Staring down an empty insert chain with hundreds of plugins to choose from can affect your inspiration when you’re trying to get ideas down fast.

Effects rack plugins are a great way to impose creative limitations and free yourself from endless option paralysis.

Plus, the interactions between effects inside the rack can lead to unexpected possibilities that may not have been possible otherwise.

How to use effects racks creatively

With the basics out of the way, here are three approaches to using effects racks creatively in a mix.

Variations on a theme

Some multi-fx plugins provide a convenient package for effects that are often used together in a mix.

After all, many mixing styles rely on characteristic combinations that are often used together.

For example, most lo-fi textures require a mix of compression, saturation, pitch vibrato and other noisy elements to sound authentic.

SuperVHS takes this approach to put all the essential ingredients of a convincing lo-fi texture into a single plugin.

Try increasing each main parameter one by one to hear its effect clearly, then layer in a combination to create your ideal lo-fi effect.

Classic signal flows

Some rack-style plugins are built to recreate well-known signal flows from the days of analog hardware.

Think of virtual pedalboards or classic console channel strips.

These are a form of multi-effect that take cues from familiar workflows to help you approximate hardware processes in the DAW.

For example, vintage rack hardware from the 80s put a signature stamp on many of the most beloved sounds of the era. Many of these resulted from cheap gear that was meant for amateurs rather than industry pros.

As professional-quality tools were out of reach for the home producers at the time, affordable effects units were often quirky and not exactly subtle with their sound.

Despite that, inexpensive digital reverbs and chorus units made their way onto hundreds of influential recordings during the 80s and 90s.

Putting these characteristic effects in one package was the driving force behind the addition of the Retro FX Strip in the v1.5 update of BA-1.

Many users of the original BA-1 synth loved the effects section and wanted to use it on other tracks in their mix—the perfect application of a well-designed effects rack!

You can now add BA-1’s beloved lo-fi and 80s-flavored drive, filter, chorus, delay and reverb to any track in your session for authentic retro character.

Creative workstations

Sometimes a particular collection of effects is all about pushing the boundaries and unlocking creative possibilities.

Whether it’s a suite of purpose-built effects that complement each other or a platform for creating custom combinations, workstation plugins are all about sound design and experimentation.

If conventional plugins aren’t enough to satisfy your sonic curiosity, try a workstation like NI Molekular to build your dream effects from scratch.

Off the rack

The best thing about producing with a DAW is the flexibility to work however you want.

In the end, plugins are just tools for making music, and whatever form they take they should help you realize your unique vision.

Effects racks are one tool you may not have considered that can save you time and effort in a session.

If you’ve ever brushed off effects racks as relics of a bygone era, it might be time to jump back in and see if they work for you in 2024.

What is Physical Modeling? 5 Techniques for Futuristic Sound

Physical modelling is one of the most fascinating approaches to sound synthesis.

It uses mathematical techniques to create sounds that mimic the behavior of real-life instruments.

But physical modelling is far from just a theoretical exercise. It’s a powerful synthesis tool that can change how you think about timbre in music.

In this article, I’ll explain what physical modeling is, how it works, and the five most common techniques you’ll find in physical modelling synthesis today.

What is physical modeling?

Physical modeling is the term for synthesis methods that simulate the behavior of sound producing objects in the real world.

Acoustic instruments rely on strings, membranes, air columns, or other physical structures to create their sound.

“Physical modeling is the term for synthesis methods that simulate the behavior of sound producing objects in the real world.”

Physical modeling uses clever algorithms to recreate these mechanisms in the digital domain. The result is virtual instruments that generate sound in the same way as the traditional instrument families like strings or woodwinds.

But unlike conventional instruments, physical models aren’t bound by the limitations of real life.

What would a cello sound like if it were the size of a car? Or what if the air inside a flute were much less dense?

These are the types of intriguing sonic questions you can explore with physical modeling.

How does physical modeling work?

Sound producing bodies can be broken down into component parts that each play a role in turning energy into sound waves.

Think of a violin bow dragging along a string. The slipping and sticking of the bow creates friction as it passes along the string, adding energy to the system.

The energy causes the string to vibrate and the body of the violin amplifies that resonance. The player’s fingers change the length of the string as they move between notes, affecting the fundamental frequency of the vibration.

In the world of physical modelling, the scratchy bow can be represented by a burst of noise, while the size and resonance of the body can be approximated with filters and other techniques.

Today’s sound designers have a deep understanding of the physics of acoustics, leading to ever more accurate physical modelling algorithms.

Types of physical modeling used in synthesis

There are as many approaches to physical modeling as there are sound producing phenomena in the world.

Synth designers have developed different techniques to imitate all kinds of instruments, from struck bodies to masses of air and even networks of springs.

Here’s a guide to the common physical modelling methods found in instruments available today.

1. Karplus-Strong string synthesis

Karplus-Strong string synthesis was one of the first physical modelling algorithms to be identified and developed.

It uses a surprisingly simple system to simulate the behavior of a struck or or plucked string.

To start, a burst of noise gets fed into a feedback loop consisting of a delay line and a low-pass filter. This simulates the complex harmonic content produced when a string is plucked.

The delay line represents the length of the string, with the delay time determining the pitch of the note.

The low-pass filter, which slightly attenuates the high frequencies with each pass through the loop, simulates the energy loss that occurs in a real vibrating string due to factors like air resistance and friction.

As the sound repeatedly cycles through the delay line and filter, it begins to take on a characteristic that closely resembles that of a plucked string instrument.

The decay of the sound can be controlled by adjusting the feedback level and the filter's characteristics, allowing for the simulation of different types of string materials and plucking techniques.

2. Digital waveguide synthesis

Building on the work of Karplus and Strong, digital waveguide synthesis was developed in the 80s by Julius O. Smith III.

It goes even further to simulate the propagation of a sound wave within a medium.

By modelling the way sound waves travel back and forth along a string or within a tube with additional delay lines, this method can reproduce instruments like guitar or flute.

In digital waveguide systems, the delay lines update continually to model the reflection of waves at boundaries like the nut and bridge of a guitar or the ends of a flute.

This requires filters and other signal processing elements to simulate the frequency-dependent energy losses that occur in real-world physical mediums.

Designers craft these elements to reflect the acoustic properties of materials like the density and tension of a string or the characteristics of the air column within a wind instrument.

3. Mass-spring interaction networks

This unique method models a physical system as a network of masses connected by springs.

Each mass is a point of inertia with its own physical characteristics like weight and density. The connecting springs can move back and forth by contracting or expanding.

When the system is excited by a virtual bow or pluck, forces of tension and compression act on the network to push and pull the springs. This action produces complex vibrations and sound waves.

The physical laws of motion determine the interaction of points in the network and the sonic results they produce.

By adjusting the parameters of the masses, springs, and their connections, this approach can simulate wide ranging acoustic properties and behavior, including nonlinear and chaotic systems.

If that sounds complex, you can get a sense for how it works by experimenting with an instrument based on this technique.

Our Atoms synthesizer uses cutting edge research on mass-spring interactions to produce an instrument that’s easy to use, yet unlike you’ve ever heard.

Its six simple parameters act on the mass-spring network in ways that push, pull and mangle its structure as it vibrates.

The result is an eerily, organic texture that can evolve and shift as you play.

Watch how Atoms produces unique sound with mass-spring interaction networks in our tutorial video.

4. Modal synthesis

Modal synthesis is a physical modelling approach that takes inspiration from the resonant behavior of acoustic objects.

It's often used to simulate percussion instruments like drums, bells and mallet instruments.

It works on the principle that any sound can be decomposed into individual modes of vibration.

Each mode represents a specific way in which the object vibrates and resonates at a particular frequency.

The modes are typically represented by sets of filters tuned to each modes resonant frequency that are excited by an input source like an impulse.

This allows them to mimic the percussive strike of a stick or mallet on a resonant surface or membrane.

5. Formant synthesis

Formant synthesis focuses on replicating the vocal qualities of speech and singing with physical modelling methods.

It’s often implemented with a network of band-pass filters that correspond to formant frequencies that match those of natural speech or singing.

An input sound that mimics the role of the vocal folds like a buzz or hiss acts on the filter network to impart a distinctive vocal quality.

By changing the center frequencies and bandwidths of the formant filters over time, these systems can emulate different vowels, consonants and transitions.

How to use physical modelling to create unique sounds with Atoms

Atoms’ unique approach to physical modelling makes it exciting to explore if you’re on the hunt for new sounds.

After all, traditional subtractive synthesis and even FM have limits once you’ve used them a lot. But Atoms may be unlike anything else you’ve tried in the world of synthesis.

Here are four ideas to experiment with unique physical model at the heart of Atoms:

1. Use the Force and Overtones to add harmonics and control them with Order

Atoms is a mass-spring interaction network excited by the action of a virtual bow.

The Force control determines the pressure of the bow against the spring while the Overtones control determines its position along its length.

Just like a real bow, increasing the pressure on the spring will add a raspy, noise-like quality to the signal.

And bowing closer to the boundary will simulate playing closer to the bridge of a string instrument. This increases sharper high harmonics like those that occur when string players are indicated to play "sul ponticello."

Adding the Order control introduces high frequency damping to the springs. This acts in effect as a low-pass filter. Noisy excitation from the bow in combination with sharper overtones can yield interesting pizzicato-like effects when heavily damped with the Order control.

2. Control onset and decay with Attack and Release

If Atoms feels overwhelming at first, there are familiar elements you can fall back on as you experiment.

For example, Atoms’ attack and release controls work similarly to those in subtractive synths.

That said, these too are related to the action of the mass-spring the network rather than just a subtractive ADSR.

Attack refers to the velocity of the bow as it contacts the spring. Just like a traditional attack control, lower values produce a more abrupt onset, while higher ones create a gradual swelling effect.

Release controls the overall damping of masses in the system.

As physical forces like air drag and friction act on a vibrating spring, its energy will decrease over time causing the sound to decay.

Turning the release control up reduces damping for a longer decay.

3. Automate it all for evolving sound

The key Atoms expressive, organic sound is to get its parameter moving with the onboard automation controls.

Simply engage a Motion mode from the menu next to each of the six main parameters and set its range with the outer ring.

You can set the automation speed in Hz or sync to the session tempo to keep it all in time.

Experiment with the different Motion modes to see how each parameter interacts with the others as they move back and forth.

4. When in doubt, roll the dice

If you simply want to hear the range of different textures Atoms can produce, try hitting the randomize button represented by the Dice icon in the top left corner.

This engages a musically calibrated randomization function that produces new and usable sounds on demand.

But if you’d rather not randomize everything, you can exclude parameters from the randomizer by locking them with the lock icon.

Finally, if you just want a slightly different take on the patch you’re currently working with, you can hit the Recycle but to generate variations on the current settings.

The sound of science

Physical modelling is one of the last frontiers left in instrument design.

While it may seem complicated at first, there’s nothing scary about plugins and instruments based on this technology.

If you’re a creative producer curious about the future of synthesis, it’s worth exploring physical modelling to see how it can inspire you to create.

Try Atoms free to get started with physical modelling and mass-spring interaction synthesis.

What is Algorithmic Reverb? How to Get Stylish Ambience in Your Mix

For software users, reverb effects tend to fall into one of two categories: Algorithmic or Convolution based. Let’s take a deep dive and define them once and for all.

Algorithmic Reverb defined

An algorithmic reverb is based on a mathematical model that simulates the behavior of a physical space. You can think of this as a really complex signal chain. In an algorithmic reverb, your audio is passed through a network of digital delay lines that are modulated, filtered and fed back into each other in a manner aimed to resemble the reflections of a room, hall or chamber – or even a “super-natural” space.

Algorithmic reverbs - whether in VST plugin or hardware form - are hard to develop because they consist of so many parameters that each have compounding effects on the end result. One little change in any part of the chain/algorithm will make for a completely different sound, and things can quickly get metallic or murky. This means you need equal development and sound design skills to create a great algorithmic reverb. (And a whole lot of patience!).

Because of the complexity that goes into developing pro-grade algorithmic reverbs, these effects are often considered ‘the holy grail’ of DSP development. In audio circles, the inner workings of legendary algorithmic reverbs such as the Lexicon 480L have almost become as mythical as the Coca Cola recipe.

Algorithmic reverbs are not as realistic as convolution reverbs, but in some ways this is their strength. They turn the idea of what a “reverb” is on its head: Instead of aiming to sound exactly like the real world, algorithmic reverbs tend to just sound like reverb effects, often in ways that transcend the limitations of any natural space. This is why algorithmic reverbs are so great for making vocals, synths or mix busses sound larger than life.

At Baby Audio, we love algorithmic reverbs (perhaps you can tell). Our best attempt at making one for the modern era is our Crystalline plugin (VST, AU AAX + iOS). It stands on the shoulders of classic studio reverbs such as the Lexicon and EMT units that defined the sound of the 1980s, but offers an upgraded, contemporary sound and feature set.

Crystalline by Baby Audio, a modern algorithmic reverb.

Convolution Reverb defined

Convolution reverbs, on the other hand, use Impulse Responses recorded out in the real world to create a natural sounding reverberation. You can think of a convolution reverb as a plugin that can host ‘samples’ of real spaces and which lets you send your tracks through these space samples to get similar reflections (often with a very high degree of realism). The benefits to this approach is accuracy and its ability to mimic real world spaces, but the main drawback is that impulse responses tend to be somewhat static. (And sometimes, real world spaces just aren’t as exciting when you want to truly elevate a track).

Algorithmic Reverb vs. Convolution Reverb - what’s better?

If you make music firmly rooted in the real world, such as folk, classical or jazz, you’d probably want to find a well equipped convolution reverb. It will give you the truest representation of the rooms and halls known from our physical world and help your music sound natural and “real”.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for reverb as an ‘effect’ to elevate and enrich your tracks, then algorithmic reverbs tend to offer more potential – both sonically and feature-wise. Sonically, algorithmic reverbs aren’t tied to the constraints of the physical world. Their algorithms can be tweaked in endless ways to make super-natural spaces that give your music a touch of otherworldly magic. For this reason, algorithmic reverbs are typically preferred for modern music genres such as pop, hip hop, electronic, dance, ambient and experimental.

Having said that, algorithmic reverbs aren’t just for modern sound design purposes. If you’re looking for a 1980s or 1990s retro vibe, an algorithmic reverb is 100% the way to go! Especially in a lower quality setting such as Crystalline’s optional ‘basic’ mode.

What’s the history of the Algorithmic Reverb?

The idea of recreating a physical space digitally through an algorithm - or mathematical formula - was pioneered in the 1960s by academics such as Manfred Schroeder and Michael Gerzon. It may seem like an obvious idea today, but you have to remember that computers and microchips were almost as foreign at the time as the space rocket that landed the first human on the moon.

The space age was an era for big visions and small chips!

As a result, algorithmic reverbs improved slowly but consistently throughout the 20th century – with every new technology leap. Companies like EMT and Lexicon finally led the way in making algorithmic reverbs the go-to choices in studios around the world.

This leads us to Crystalline…

With modern computer power at our disposal, we now have a luxury our predecessors could only have dreamed of. Where they had to walk a hard line between restraint and imagination, our super-powered computers allow us to focus primarily on the latter.

In working on Crystalline, we experimented with the algorithmic reverb concepts originally envisioned by pioneers like Gerzon and Schroeder — and re-applied their ideas from scratch without the original limitations. This led to A LOT of delay lines! And even more trial and error.

But in the end we got something we're proud of as a contribution to the ongoing evolution of the algorithmic reverb. Crystalline is certainly not the end station, neither is it the only modern reverb to tap into these classic ideas. But it offers our upgraded and genuine take on what could rightly be called ‘the holy grail’ of dsp – designed with a 21st century user in mind.

If you want to hear Crystalline in action, you can get a free trial and learn more by clicking the link below.

How to use algorithmic reverb in your mix

Algorithmic reverb is perfect for any situation that calls for stylish and creative atmospheres.

It’s often used for large ambient washes where modulation plays a central role. But it works equally well for applications that require tight rooms, plates and chambers.

Many of the most beloved algorithmic reverb hardware units are famous for their non-linear modes, including the classic gated reverb trick from the 80s.

Crystalline can add a distinctive flavor whether you need the expansive sound of a space that’s larger than life, or a short decay that stands out with rich character.

Here are a few tips for using algorithmic reverb with Crystalline:

• Engage slow, deep modulation on settings with long decay times to add lushness and complexity to the reverb tail.

• Shape the harmonic content by adjusting the high and low damping frequencies. Try different combinations with short or long decays to see how they interact.

• Create the classic gated effect by turning up the gate control’s threshold and setting the release to match the song’s tempo.

• Try the Shimmer function to add a ghostly upper octave reverberation to the signal