How to make a dirty house-style rave hoover sound

Getting started

Step 1: It’s easy to get the kind of Juno-esque hoover sound used in classic dance tracks, from Human Resource’s Dominator onwards, using GenesisCM, a PC plug-in you’ll find on the cover disc that comes with the latest Computer Music Special, Make Dance Music (CMS42), which is on sale now. Install the synth and load it into your DAW. Select the Dominator patch from the list of presets.

The pattern

Step 2: Program this simple two-note pattern - if you’re into filthy house music, you should find it more than a little familiar. The patch actually has some LFO pitch modulation that we don’t want, so locate the synth’s LFO1 Depth knob in the top right-hand corner of the interface and turn it down to zero.

No FX

Step 3: The patch also has some rather big reverb and delay effects on it. We can disable these by turning down the Reverb and Delay knobs at the top left-hand corner of the synth’s interface. The little red lights beside the knobs will go out when the knobs have been fully turned down, showing that the effects have been deactivated.

Pitch envelope modulation

Step 4: We’ve now got a real bare-bones Juno-style hoover patch to play with. A lot of this sound’s character comes from the pitch envelope modulation. In this patch this is handled by ADSR3, which is routed to the pitch of Oscillators 1 and 2.

ADSR adjustment

Step 5: By setting the Attack and Decay to relatively low values as we have here, and adjusting the Amount knob, you can hear the kind of extreme effects that can be created with this type of pitch modulation. For a lazy, Bloody Beetroots-style sound, use the settings we have here.

Sidechain compression

Step 6: To get that full-on Bloody Beetroots feel, you’ll want to use quite severe sidechain compression on the sound, with a 4/4 kick drum providing the sidechain input.

For more synth programming tutorials, check out the latest Computer Music Special, Make Dance Music (CMS42), which is on sale now.