How to Make a Dub Siren in Ableton Live
January 6th, 2012 ⋅ Tech, Videos ⋅ by digilove staff ⋅ 706 ViewsPoint Blank Online School brings you weekly fresh nuggets of music production advice courtesy of
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This week Jonny Miller re-creates a classic dub siren sound using Ableton’s Analog synth. For some
time now, mainly thanks to dub reggae, a portable siren box (pictured below) has been a sought
after piece of kit for producers and DJs, usually constructed using cheap component parts and a
soldering iron – a DIY skill known as circuit bending.
Using Jonny’s virtual siren is a great way to add rising and falling tension to your DJ sets, or some
serious sound system flavour to your productions!
You’ll hear the influence of the dub siren and sound system culture in all forms of electronic music
these days, from the current tough ghetto house sounds of Zed Bias to the crunk sonic delights of
Redlight and Major Lazer and of course, within dubstep and dancehall.
Once you’ve fine tuned the siren’s main controls with the Analog synth (or any synth you may have,
just follow the steps shown), you can add a whole range of different effects to treat the siren’s
output sound. Try adding a panning effects device to move the signal from left to right as it speeds
up and slows down or a Phaser or Flanger for a heightened sense of space .
