TUTORIAL: Hoovers & Reeses Explained

[futures_untold]

Hoovers and Reeses

Hoovers and Reeses are regularly confused with each other. While it is easy to confuse a Hoover with a Reese, they are not the same.

Example of the Hoover - Human Resource - Dominator (1991)
Example of the Reese - Kevin 'Reese' Saunderson - Just Want Another Chance (1986)

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How Hoovers and Reeses are made

Hoovers are made using a pulse wave and pulse width modulation (PWM). They also have a small downwards pitch bend on the attack portion of the sound.

Reese are made using two saw waves, with the pitch of one oscillator slightly detuned from the other. Reeses are often low pass filtered too.

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Technical differences between Hoovers and Reeses

1> Hoovers are made exclusively from a pulse (square) wave. Reeses are made traditionally from a saw wave.

2> Hoovers are created by changing the actual shape of a pulse wave on the fly within the oscillator. Reeses are made by introducing phase cancellation via detuning the pitch of two saw waves.

3> Hoovers aren't typically filtered and are used 'raw'. Reeses are low pass filtered giving a 'warm' sound.

4> The Hoover has a pitch drop over the course of each note. A Reese remains at the same pitch for the duration of each note.

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Tutorial: How to make a Hoover

1> To make your own Hoover, you need a synth capable of pulse width modulation. (Tal Elek7ro has PWM and is available for free).

2> Set your synths oscillator to pulse.

3> Assign an LFO to the pulse width control of the pulse wave oscillator.

4> Assign an ADSR envelope to the pitch of the oscillator and invert the envelope direction. (The pitch of a hoover typically drops over the course of each note played).

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Tutorial: How to make a Reese

1> Set both oscillators on your synth to saw wave.

2> Detune the pitch of one (or both) of the oscillators by a few cents.

3> Low pass filter the sound and turn up the filter resonance.

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Let's recap:

Detuning two sawtooth waves doesn't make a Hoover, it makes a Reese. Reeses sound like a warm sub bass.

Hoovers use pulse width modulation (PWM) to achieve an 'aliens taking over the world' type sound.

Although heavily processed/distorted Reeses begin to sound like Hoovers, real Hoovers sound awful when they are distorted too much.

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Further Info

Using Wavetable Synths for Hoovers

Wavetable synths are capable of phase width modulation which allows you to achieve similar sounds to a Hoover using any waveform.

Wavetable synths include NI Massive, Vember Audio Surge, FAW Circle, Fuzzpils Oatmeal, Jeremy Evers Atlantis and Reasons Malstrom synth.

Further Reading

More info on the Hoover can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_sound
More info on the Reese can be found at http://www.dnbwiki.com/index.php/Reese

Posted this a while ago but here it is again :

German reese tutorial
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=337721
http://producer-network.de/wissen/tutor ... e-so-gehts

FL Studio Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYwMyBXL ... re=related

I think i figured out how to make *FILTHY* bass!
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... genumber=2

Anthology of sick bass quotes
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=545877

Why resampling?
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... perpage=50

Subfocus Reese Bass Tutorial @ Vimeo
http://www.vimeo.com/2053004

Subfocus Reese Tutorial @ Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK1ocGVD ... L&index=32

Reason 4 Tutorial - REESE BASS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLqhyrEL ... re=channel

Reason Reese Tutorial
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=529816

[Production Bible 2] The Reese Bass
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=78308

Superb Reese Tutorial
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... ost3538091

A tutorial about resampling reeses
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... erpage=100

...and just another reese tutorial...
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... genumber=1

The Noisia type basslines
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=337721

Hoover tutorial
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=539307

Reese in FL pics
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=566125

SH-201 Youtube bass tutorial video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YALMNPCcaZ0

[krispy]

Thanks
I never knew the difference before until now

[upstateface]

Hoover


Reese

[futures_untold]

DSF = all the education you'll ever need.

@Upstateface - Thanks for the video links.

[vertx]

Thanks Patrick, another top post

[futures_untold]

Glad you found it useful

To be honest, it is actually a rehash of two older posts I made previously. I just made this so I could post a dedicated thread to Reeses and Hoovers in the production tips and tutorials sticky at the top of the production subforum.

Patrick

[amphibian]

futures man, you are on FIRE!

I actually intend on doing a more complicated reese-based tutorial as soon as I'm able - will add it here once done

[grooki]

thanks for this futures, very interesting. what is really amazing is how little those sounds have changed over 20 years, and how simple they are to make. I love the feel of Just Want .Another Chance

[9fiyah6]

jackiechanmyheadisfulloffuck.jpg

i'm really confused here with the explanations on the how to for both of these sounds, first off the reese in both those vids sound like a monster of a bassline (no growling but rather rumbling bass) but following the tut i get a growling sinister bass! dont get me wrong i'm not complaining that bass is nasty! just not too clear on what i'm making. as for the hoover/mentasm from what i get out of the wiki is that a mentasm is a hoover but the only difference is that a mentasm is referred to the sound sampled from that Beltram track, so if i make a mentasm from scratch is that considered a hoover? (<-- reminds me of the saying if a tree falls in the forest...) some clarification is definatly need for me here, also before this gets tl:dr according to these sites http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=539307 (about ten posts down) and this one http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/ ... 01#content they are made in almost the exact opposite way that is posted in this thread! i have also applied those said tuts and got the results this thread is aimed at! is this a case of anything is possible with synthesis or are the tuts in the links i posted wrong! you also need to keep in mind both of the tuts in the links are from CM!!!does CM not know what they are talking bout?

so again...jackiechanmyheadisfulloffuck.jpg!!!!

[deadly_habit]

gppd ;uck remaking the mentasm as people have been trying for years to no avail to get that perfect combo
both sounds usually undergo some processing so that may be your problem

[9fiyah6]

^^^not sure if you read my post correctly but im not having problems recreating the sounds, did you go to the links i posted? they say the opposite of what futures has put on here and state a hoover is made with saws and a reese is made with squares, i have made both sounds following the tuts on the links i posted and got results, granted the hoover sounds weak but its a start!

[tripwire22]

Thanks Patrick, another top post

[AL4228]

Big up for this post :O

[DJ Crackle]

I haven't been able to create my own Reese that I really like yet (and I'm refusing to watch tuts on this for once in my life so I can actually learn a little more understanding on my own).
But, I'm definitely at least inspired to go home and try again today. Lol.

[upstateface]

I haven't been able to create my own Reese that I really like yet (and I'm refusing to watch tuts on this for once in my life so I can actually learn a little more understanding on my own).
But, I'm definitely at least inspired to go home and try again today. Lol.

The key to reeses imo is adding other waveforms into the detuned saws, i've been adding triangles lately and it sounds phenomenal.

[deadly_habit]

^^^not sure if you read my post correctly but im not having problems recreating the sounds, did you go to the links i posted? they say the opposite of what futures has put on here and state a hoover is made with saws and a reese is made with squares, i have made both sounds following the tuts on the links i posted and got results, granted the hoover sounds weak but its a start!

hoovers are square waves and pwm plain and simple

[futures_untold]

jackiechanmyheadisfulloffuck.jpg

I'm really confused here with the explanations on the how to for both of these sounds, first off the reese in both those vids sound like a monster of a bassline (no growling but rather rumbling bass) but following the tut i get a growling sinister bass!

Hi 9fiyah6

Listen again to the videos in the links I gave in the first post (not the videos posted later in the thread).

Example of the Hoover - Human Resource - Dominator (1991)
Example of the Reese - Kevin 'Reese' Saunderson - Just Want Another Chance (1986)

You should hear the difference immediately! (I can clearly discern the difference using my humble laptop speakers. If you don't, either your ears or speakers are knackered hehe...)

Bear in mind that a Reese bass will sound different according to several variables. To achieve the exact same bass as the original, you would need to use the same synth & effects and set them all to the exact same settings as originally used.

Bear in mind that the following will each radically effect the tonal characteristics of the Reese bass produced:

1> The depth that you detune the two oscillators will effect the lushness (how similar to a chorus it sounds) and the level of phase cancelation (sounds like a light phaser or wobble) that is produced. The more you detune, the more 'beat' you will get.

2> As you sweep the low pass filter cutoff frequency lower towards the bass frequencies, the tone will become less rich and warmer, more muted and subby.

3> The amount of filter resonance you use will effect the tone of the bass sound produced.

4> You don't actually have to use saw waves for a Reese, simply detune and low pass filter two oscillators together. So if you are using anything but a saw wave for your Reese, it will have a different tonal character to the original.

5> You can also use more than two oscillators detuned together. This will either sound lusher or messy depending on the relationship between the amount of detune applied to each oscillator.

As for the hoover/mentasm from what i get out of the wiki is that a mentasm is a hoover but the only difference is that a mentasm is referred to the sound sampled from that Beltram track, so if i make a mentasm from scratch is that considered a hoover?

Exactly, if you create a 'Mentasm' from scratch you have yourself a Hoover bass. Deadly Habit is correct to say that layering and effects processing could make the original Mentasm difficult to reproduce exactly.

According to these sites http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=539307 (about ten posts down) and this one http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/ ... 01#content they are made in almost the exact opposite way that is posted in this thread! i have also applied those said tuts and got the results this thread is aimed at! is this a case of anything is possible with synthesis or are the tuts in the links i posted wrong! you also need to keep in mind both of the tuts in the links are from CM!!!does CM not know what they are talking bout?

A few points:

1> CM have actually given a tutorial for making a hybrid Hoover/Reese bass. They start by making a Hoover and then low pass filter the Hoover to soundlike a Reese. Hoovers aren't low pass filtered by default and Reeses don't use pulse waves with PWM by default.

2> Several people in the thread from DOA are wrongly calling the Reese a Hoover. Others in the thread point out the mistake by refering to the technical aspects of how the Hoover is made.

3> Both the Wiki entry for the Reese and the thread you linked to state that you can layer multiple sawtooth oscillators and use unison. While this may also give a sound similar to an unfiltered Reese, technically it produces a supersaw wave. Low pass filtering a supersaw would also create a Reese.

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NOTE: What I've written below may not be entirely accurate. Do your own research and please fill in any gaps or correct my mistakes for the benefit of other readers.

To clarify the differences between Hoovers and Reeses further, it may be useful to examine the technical differences between pulse width modulation and phase modulation.

'PWM' is generally accepted by synthesists to stand for pulse width modulation. PWM is essentially phase width modulation on a pulse wave. Pulse waves can be created using real electrical circuit boards by using a monostable timer placed on the circuit before the oscillator. Changing the count length time of the monostable timer will alter the phase shape of the pulse wave as the high and low voltages are supplied at different times. (Compare a pulse wave to a square wave.) Pulse Width Modulation wiki entry

To clear up further inaccuracies posted in the DOA thread you linked, it simply isn't possible to do 'pulse width modulation' on a saw wave because a saw wave isn't a pulse wave!

That said, they may be using 'PWM' to mean phase width modulation. Using phase width modulation on any waveform will produce a similar sound to pulse width modulation. (I mentioned this at the bottom of the original post.)

Phase width modulation is only possible using digital synthesis (using wavetables and a phase accumulator/timer). Normally wavetable oscillators read from the beginning of the wavetable and read all the way through the entire wavetable before looping back to the start. Using the phase accumulator/timer forces the wavetable to start reading the wavetable again before the entire wavetable has been read. This changes the phase of the waveform being produced at any given frequency. For this reason, wavetable synths like those listed in the origianl post allow phase width modulation on any waveform.

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Hope that has cleared up any confusion...?!!

Patrick

[9fiyah6]

^^^whoa!!! that's alot of info but thanks for taking your time to type taht out and actually look into the links i posted! i guess i have been making them wrong all this time by following those CM tuts even though the results i achieved were what i was aiming at!oh and yes i can tell the difference between a hoover and a reese!it's pretty obvious, lol!

[futures_untold]

Just to reiterate, the CM tutorial isn't actually 'wrong' per se, they've simply described how to achieve a hybrid Reese based on a Hoover. They may have done so because pulse width modulation sounds similar to a chorus, so by using that they will have thickened up the sound of the Reese compared to using detuned saws alone. For a true Reese use detuned saws instead of square waves with pwm. For a true Hoover, don't low pass filter the square wave with pwm....

Remember that combining the techniques has potential too (as CM have shown). For instance, why not try using three detuned square waves each with light to moderate amounts of pwm applied. Pass the resut through a low pass filter or notch filter for extra Noisia-ishness!

[futures_untold]

Edited.