Ableton Tutorial--Rising Synth Transition

Question: How do people in the club know when it is time for them to yell “whoo!” and throw Zima on each other? (I haven’t been to a club since 1993) Answer: Because the “buildup” of the track tells them to. A buildup or a transition is an incredibly important part of a song because it telegraphs to the listener that a change is coming up: a drop or a different drum pattern or rap acapella looped to just say “butts” (this happens a lot). One of the most popular and versatile buildups is the “rising synth” buildup, where a synth tone glides up an octave over the course of a bar or two. I get a lot of emails asking me where to get that “Rising Synth VST.” Bad knews: I don’t know of such a thing. Good news: You can make one with Ableton’s simpler! In this video, I show you how to make a rising synth starting with a single waveform (which you can grab from this post right here). Have fun with this and, for god’s sake, use it wisely. We don’t want people throwing Zima all over the place.