New Set of Unique Presets Designed by HydraTek Exclusively for Slap
New set of unique presets designed by HydraTek exclusively for Slap
Since its release, SLAP has been turning into one of producer’s favorite plugins for working on transient materials like drum loops, break beats, or one-shots like a kick drum, a snare, hats and so on. Good news is, Slap’s new updated version — available from October 25, 2022 — includes not only bug fixes and new components but also a whole new category of presets specially created by HydraTek.
HydraTek is a sound designer and engineer, electronic music producer and creator of Cinematic Bass Music. When talking about his work, HydraTek says, “I have a clear cinematic influence and always like to create special soundscapes that provide context to narrate a story.”
Since HydraTek has cinematic percussions, D&B breakbeats, and experimental scenarios as references, he set himself the goal to include more impactful sounds to Slap. This led him to create a new category of presets which add even more character through distortion and sub-harmonic reinforcement.
Adding even more depths and character to drum sounds
The Vitalizer preset layers a sample from the Texture category on top of the original transient to add a nice organic feel to the drums. With the help of the Saturation and Clipping modules, cymbals can sound crispier while the kick gains depth and warmth.
For a more interesting and alive sound, HydraTek suggests replacing the transient with a click sample and using a variety of modules to enrich and process the sound further. In Slap, all modules are easily swappable through a drag-and-drop mechanism. As a final touch, the Tame knob is a great option for dwindling resonances, so if you’re going hard on saturation, you can always tame your frequencies afterwards.
The Taiko Giantify preset replaces the transients first and then makes the body heavier. You can then add some nice top-end enhancements with the help of the Clap and Spray modules.
If you’re looking for extreme sounds, a good option is to set the clip up to extreme values. For example, the Punish dial could be set up to 100%. The FX amount works like a macro-control for the amount of processing applied to the modules.
Another interesting option is to layer hats with another top loop on the exact same rhythm as the original. This will replace the transients first. Then, using the Clap module, it’ll generate a white noise percussion layer, making the original loop cut through the mix more. While the Shape, Fat, and Clip modules can make the sound more upfront and snappier, having the Tune knob fully turned up is a great alternative to bringing more edginess.
Finally, the Low Cut module removes unnecessary low-end material generated by the saturation process.
The Creative Category: HydraTek’s Contribution to Slap
For this category, HydraTek’s goal was to find different usages of Slap by daring to try playing with extreme values.
Some examples of presets under this category are the Saturation is Love preset, which encourages us to saturate it up to the maximum amount, and the Glitchy Cool preset.
Even though trying extreme values can sound odd sometimes, HydraTek teaches us that SLAP is definitely worth getting adventurous with, since these experimentations can lead to some very interesting rhythmic interplays and add a great groove to our music.
