Creating Rave Stabs In Logic Using ES2 Synth

Dubspot instructor and course designer Matt Shadetek returns with another episode of Secret Knowledge, a Logic Pro video tutorial series.

In this installment, Shadetek looks at how to create rave stabs by layering multiple detuned saw waves, using Logic’s ES2 virtual analog synthesizer.

Here’s what he has to say about the sound:

The sound we’re going to create here has been in use for years in many styles of electronic dance music, but somehow people keep returning to it: the rave stab.

Rave stabs are made by layering a pair of highly detuned saw waves with one another and then using something to animate the pitch and cause it to bend. In this example we’ll do this with the ES2 synth in Logic and an envelope but there are many ways to create this type of sound. All you need is a synthesizer that can layer saw waves and create pitch movement.

For extra credit I’ve set up the envelope modulating the pitch to be velocity-sensitive, so when this patch is played from a controller we get some additional variation depending on how the instrument is played.

via DubSpot

6 thoughts on “Creating Rave Stabs In Logic Using ES2 Synth

  1. Ahh, yeah, good ol’ ES2, nice synth but after FCPX I’m not using it anymore because who knows if it will be in Logic X or not…no point in making a bunch of presets for a discontinued synth.

  2. this isnt what i think of when i think about rave stabs… i mean all you have to do is detune two oscillators and route pitch to mod envelope. the music that this dude is trying to make just is junk. blagh

    1. Did you read what he said in the description? It says exactly that. So what do you think of? Your statement makes no sense. And whether you think it’s junk or not is subjective.

  3. One of the nicest things about Logic (and MainStage) is that you get… ES2, and a bunch of other decent instruments !! Not a bad deal. And you finally get a complete editing interface for those GarageBand instruments, which are basically just reskinned Logic plugins.

  4. The dubspot videos can seem a bit cheesy and dorky, but I like that they’re also pretty clear and basic instruction for beginners, and also serve as simple demonstrations of some of the basic things you can do with various pieces of software like Live or Logic.

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