- Hoover sound
Hoover sound refers to a particular
synthesizer sound inelectronic music , commonly used inHard House music and other styles. Originally called the mentasm or reese, the name that stuck was the one likening the sound to that of a vacuum cleaner.Overview
The Hoover is a complex
waveform that can be created with threeoscillator s, each spaced an octave apart, a heavy use ofPulse-width modulation and a thickChorus effect . The sound is characterised by its thick swirliness that stems from a fast LFO controlling the PWM and the chorus.It is traditionally created with the Roland Alpha Juno-2 synthesizer using the "WhatThe?" patch. Most hoover sounds are generated on this synthesizer as it uses a unique method of PWM, splitting the wave into 4 segments and separately modulating their widths. Where a Juno-2 is not available, Hoover sounds are sometimes produced by using samples of Alpha Juno-2 Hoovers and
Granular synthesis on these samples. The Hoover has become somewhat of a fetishized item in certain circles of music production (not unlike the sound of theRoland TB-303 ).The hoover sound is believed to first have appeared in a commercial production in 'Second Phase - Mentasm', produced by a collaboration between
Joey Beltram andMundo Muzique , and sometimes is referred to as amentasm . However, mentasm normally refers to the sound sampled from this tune and re-used.The most famous record using a hoover sound is arguably Dominator by Dutch techno pioneers Human Resource. This track gained fame in 1991 and became a top 10 hit worldwide. Characteristic for this track was not only the Hoover, but also the over the top r
Example
This is what a basic hoover sounds like: [http://mp3.hardnrg.com/whatisnrg/hoover.mp3 Basic Hoover Example]
Hoover replacements
Although the original hoover sound was created with a Roland Alpha Juno2 there are several replacements to choose from that include, but are certainly not limited to, the Alpha Juno 1, Alpha Juno 2, MKS-50 (Rack version of the Alpha Junos), and the JP-8000. The new Roland Juno G has a few presets that feature the Hoover sound.
VST instruments
Virtual Studio Technology instruments can create similar sounds. Here is a selection of them:* Pro-Sounds PS-1
* Audjoo Helix
* JBM Hoovermaker
* JxPlugins JX220
* Lennar Digital's Sylenth1
* Native Instrument's Massive
* Reaktor using the Staubsauger [http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=userlibrary&type=0&ulbr=1&plview=detail&patchid=6735] ensemble
* reFX JunoX2
* reFX Vanguard
* Rob Papen's Predator
* Tone2 FireBird
* Tone2 GladiatorExternal links
* [http://www.backtotheoldskool.co.uk/dominator.htm 2 examples of the Hoover Sound]
* [http://www.mediafire.com/?eebzwjg4wmy A Hoover patch for Native Instrument's Massive]
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