Alright, so I just love Seven Lions and have for quite a while.  I love his trance, dubstep, metal influences meshing together.  Specifically though, I'd love to know how he (and other artists) do their "growls" and stutter effects.  I've searched on youtube and found a few things, but nothing that yields the results I'm looking for.  I have both Zebra2 and Serum, and I believe a lot of this can be done by morphing wavetables, but beyond that, I'm not really sure. 

So: how do you make dem nasty growls AND that wonderful stutter-effect (some people call it a "Transformers" sound)?

Thanks for any advice.


Drop at 2:27
Growls: 2:28, 2:31
Stutter FX: 2:43

the transformer thing is a combination of pitch modulation, LFO modulation and pan modulation.

if you want something that sounds like a robot winding down, then have the pitch bend down while an LFO decreases in speed and the pan spreads out on the same timetable. IE everything happens over the course of a 1/2 note.

The pitch creates a downward energy and simulates the slowing of a motor while the LFO gives the impression of mechanical movement that directs sound in various directions, with your perspective only getting "full volume" when its directed at you. the Pan spread creates the feeling of something coming from afar and settling very close. You don't have to spread the pan but you definitely need to move the sound within the stereo image, and you definitely need at least some kind of wideness adjustment and should probably have a position movement too. for example : center to 10 left to 19 right while going from mono ot mostly mono to a wider spread over the same 1/2 note for the other effects.

When doing this to growls, have your growl open/morph/modulate/etc in different time. So if the growl is a whole note, let it open for a half note then introduce this modulation during the second half of the growl while letting it keep its basic shape. When you start modulating your growl in sync with a speedy LFO it creates too much noise for you to be able to appreciate the transformer effect and just makes it difficult to listen to. The best way to do this is to let the LFO sweep into the noise (dry wet 0 to 100) over the course of the first half of the measure then begin all the other changes (LFO speed, pan, pitch etc) at the half way point.