There are 5 major categories of basic transition parameters. Examples for each are included. Some examples could have been assigned to more than one category. Transitions often consist of either tonal sounds, drum/percussion hits or sustained noise. Various combinations are possible.
- Volume
- successively mute drum or percussion elements; when muting the kick: can maintain sidechain trigger to create 'ghost pumping' effect
- slowly reduce volume to partial quiescence or complete silence
- volume swell of pad, drone, strings, vocal, choir etc.
- increasing volume of a repeating snare or hihat sequence [Audiobusters]
- ostentatious single splash/stab/bram/fanfare (e.g. organ, synth) on the first beat of the new segment; create energy splash by choosing a source sound in the high-mid frequency range (e.g. clap, crash, vocal slice), add huge reverb, stabilize volume over time (e.g. limiter, compressor, OTT) and add pumping (e.g. sidechaining, volume LFO); can also bounce the splash to audio, then reverse it; EQ as needed
- Pitch
- tonal pitch riser/downer; can create manually or use 'The Riser' VST; e.g. a riser by automating loop length and pitch in DirectWave; e.g. automating Time knob on the Grain tab in FL Studio's Effector
- pitch bend/slide audio (incl. noise); e.g. using slide notes or pitch automation; e.g. with Gross Beat time envelope, automate mix level [thehideki], automate GB Time preset slot parameter to span the effect across two or more bars
- gradually raise or lower pitch of a drum or percussion sound, e.g. hat, ride, clap; can use post-FX, e.g. pitch riser of washed-out fast hihat
- skillful harmonic changes, e.g. relating to outgoing or incoming chords, or both [N_K, clint]
- Timbre/frequency balance
- noise riser/downer, e.g. via LP or BP filter sweep; enhance by intensifying distortion; with or without LFO; can progressively increase LFO amplitude and/or speed; can create manually or use 'The Riser' VST; add effects, e.g. chorus, reverb, pan LFO; optionally consolidate the riser to audio, then reverse and tag on to the original back to back with shortened volume envelope
- morphing drum gestalt/timbre
- timbre tweaks by progressive dial-in of granular FX over drum/percussion
- HP or LP filter sweep over repeating drum hit sequence (e.g. kick)
- progressively swelling distortion, e.g. bitcrush on snare roll
- increasingly more squeaky acid lead by prolonging attack of LP filter envelope and augmenting filter frequency
- reversed cymbal followed by crash or noise splash; can create manually or use 'Rise & Hit' VST
- reversed sampled reverb tail of a percussion hit (e.g. clap), back to back followed by the original (forward) sound
- reversed sampled reverb tail of stab or lead note/chord [BinaryBorn]
- BP-filtered vocal + echo + reverb; can also use reversed decay tail as swell [clint]
- (slow) blurring with long reverb + HP sweep [Audiobusters]
- flanger, phaser or comb filter sweep effect [Audiobusters]
- consolidate multiple synchronous Playlist tracks into one audio sample, then manipulate this sample by applying reversal, pitch changes, Gross Beat time envelope, chop, playback speed, HP/LP filter, pan etc. [clint]
- Timing/rhythm
- increasing or decreasing LFO rates [Audiobusters]; can use standard LFO shapes or more complex, customized ones, e.g. generated with Fruity Envelope Controller or Fruity X-Y-Z Controller or a stack of 2-3 Fruity Formula Controllers; needs to be compatible with the groove
- infuse energy by slowly morphing drum pattern
- gradually raise decay of open hihat
- stutters, glitches, scratching, tape start/stop [Audiobusters], e.g. stutter a riser using a volume or time envelope in Gross Beat; e.g. can use a Trance gate on a noise riser
- syncopated drum or percussion fill
- accelerating or decelerating snare, clap or percussion roll/buildup [Audiobusters], with soft progressive pitch-up, ringing out in reverb tail
- apply delay to drum or percussion, increase wet/dry ratio and feedback amount, increase or decrease timing; add dub delay: send sparse, short pieces of audio (e.g. snare) into a long-lasting delay unit, place delay plugin (e.g. Fruity Delay 3) on a Send track, set 'Level' to 100% or above (can automate), set wet output to maximum (can automate), then automate send volume to only have short pieces of audio feed into the delay; can also use Gross Beat and derivatives (e.g. Gross Beat^16) for interesting pre-delay audio gating patterns; can run sound through various different effects before the gating
- bounce short segment (e.g. 1, 2 or 4 beats) of drum and/or percussion to audio, then reverse; chop and syncopate as desired; automate pitch
- Pan/stereo spread
- creative panning (e.g. sweep, LFO, accelerate or decelerate)
- increasing/decreasing stereo width [Audiobusters]
Some additional notes taken from an article at EDMProd (https://www.edmprod.com/tension/, cited by @xbitz):
- tension, energy and release all go together and should be viewed as such
- distinction between macro- and micro-tension, i.e. high-level and low-level observation
- macro-tension: 3 layers: 1.) Layer 1: base, subtle, e.g. adding additional drum sounds. 2.) Layer 2: shorter than Layer 1 and more obvious, e.g. a 16-bar riser. 3.) Layer 3: most obvious or dramatic; adds most tension and energy, e.g. snare roll
- micro-tension: the small differences: short fills, small glitches, a one-bar break, removal of a kick drum at the end of an 8-bar phrase, crash cymbal at the start of a new phrase, funky vocal stab; purpose is to maintain constant tension, keep the track moving forward, and force the listener to stay interested and engaged; also includes tension in chord progressions and melodies
- pulling and pushing, also called tension/release, call/response, question/answer; they work in tandem; keeps the energy up and the listener interested; applies to macro- and micro-tension; in macro-tension: build-up = pull, drop = push; need to pay close attention to balancing pull and push well (they by no means have to be even though); in smaller pulls, the pull can be stronger than the subsequent push, but need to make sure that the *main* build-up does never overpower the main chorus
- causes of tension: 1.) pitch change (including melody). 2.) change in overall frequency balance (e.g. progressive removal of low frequencies to raise attention for the arrival of a new part with higher energy; removal of high frequencies to transition into a section of lower energy, e.g. breakdown); NB: loudness contributes less to tension and more to energy. 3.) harmony (e.g. in a I – IV – V – I chord progression, the V chord builds anticipation for the I chord that’s coming next; dissonant chords or intervals; deceptive cadences; pedal tones; dominant seventh chord; suspension; harmony and melody can be structured in a certain way to build more tension. 4.) change rhythm of a particular instrument or the whole track (e.g. add a half-bar of triplets to a synth sound; change snare roll pattern to a polyrhythm halfway through); overall intention is to briefly break up the rhythmic flow
- build into the build-up, e.g. with small noise riser, fading in instruments, reverse effect, pre-build snare roll, impact effect
- snare roll: work out place in the mix (e.g. foreground or background); decide on length (e.g. 4 or 8 bars); can leave one free bar (silence) at the end; polyrhythmic patterns; pitch automation; layering with subtle snare drum playing 16th notes
- risers/sweeps: work out place in the mix; decide on pitch range (e.g. 1, 5, 12 or 24 semitones); layer sustained riser with rhythmic riser; drench in reverb if harsh/abrasive sounds are undesired
- filtering: to add extra tension and for smoothing transitions; HP on master channel possible, starting at 30 Hz and moving up to 175 Hz; important: start off subtle
- reverb: for washout, e.g. long decay with automated dry/wet during the last 2 bars of snare roll; reverb on master channel possible when automating dry/wet and size parameters as progresses build; pitch-rise effect by pulling size of reverb down
- energy: draw an energy map of the track; avoid energy drop-off; hold back certain elements until later in the track
- balance contrast and consistency
Tips for macro structure (https://youtu.be/4BbO_BmyBG4):
- escalation: in the arrangement, start slowly; as the track progresses, changes (including transitional elements) become faster and more frequent; accelerating the changes yields progressively more movement, will boost the energy and thereby keep the listener intrigued as time goes on
- timing: place the transition earlier than the listener expects, as an element of surprise, e.g. end a segment after 6 instead of 8 bars
- purpose of transitions: make the listener feel good, comfortable; enhance fluidity; bridge; smooth rough edges; polish the surface
EDITS: List updated and reorganized. Additional notes added. Additional edits by Saif.