Most modern music is created and structured in sections or blocks. However, going from one to another needs some smooth transitions to add interest and excitement.
I always include some sort of reverse cymbal effect in my music to grab the listener’s attention.
And it’s actually pretty easy to create this reversed cymbal effect or transition in FL Studio.
Let me show you how in 4 simple steps.
Watch the video for this tutorial:
1. Find a good Cymbal Crash sample
Browse your sample library (I bet you have a great cymbal crash sample laying around).
Find a sample you like.
Try to switch between recorded acoustic cymbals, drum machine-generated cymbals and synth-programmed cymbals when creating the reversed effect.
It can make the effect stand out from others.
2. Process the cymbal with effects
To get a good cymbal reverse effect, we need the cymbal to have a decent “tail”.
To get this, add a Fruity Reverb (any other reverb will do).
Crank up the size and decay. I set the decay to 4-5 sec because I want a long reverse to the cymbal.
Next, add the Fruity PanO’Matic for a bit of auto-panning. Set it to a relatively fast LFO rate and the amount to around 50%.
Then we want a bit of extra character with the multi-fx plugin RC20.
Here I add wobble and distortion for a bit of grit to the cymbal sound. Then the EQ is removing a bit of the low-end and top-end. (Because I’m in love with that LoFi sound)
Lastly, I add a Fruity EQ to remove any unwanted low frequencies that might have been added by the effect plugins. I do high pass at around 300-400Hz.
Sweet!
3. Render the cymbal crash to audio
Now, we are ready to bounce this cymbal crash to audio.
Go to the track in the playlist view where the sample is. Highlight the area you want to render to audio.
Right-click on the playlist track section and select “Consolidate track”. Then select “from time selection”.
Press “Start”.
Nice! Now we have a new cymbal crash with a characterful long tail that we can turn into an awesome reversed effect.
4. Reverse the cymbal crash
Now the fun part starts.
Click on the cymbal crash we just consolidated to open the Sampler window. Then you only have to select “Reverse”.
Boom. You should now have a cool reversed cymbal sound effect in your FL Studio project. Wicked right!?
Listen to the result:
Try to use this approach for other sounds as well, like vocal one shots, synth stabs and so on.
TIP: If you want to add a smoother transition to your reverse cymbal effect, try to add a Reverb plugin on it to give it a pleasant reverb “tail”.
[Optional] Bounce to audio again and save the cymbal effect
If you want to make your life easier in future FL Studio sessions, you save this newly created reversed cymbal effect to your sample folder.
Then you don’t have to do this process every time in a new project. It will drastically speed up your workflow. I promise you that.
Just highlight the area of the cymbal effect and hit Ctrl + E to open the Export window.
Save it to your desired sample folder. Done!
Now you have a fantastic reverse cymbal sound effect ready to treat your next music track with a dope “sweeping” effect.
Listen to the reversed cymbal effect:
Also read: Best Export Settings in FL Studio
I hope this tutorial was helpful. If you want more music production tips and tricks, then check out my YouTube channel 👈
More useful FL Studio resources:
How to add MPC swing in FL Studio with Groove templates
How to Save Mixer Presets in FL Studio
