ARTICLE: Creating Shepard Tones.

Feb 21, 20232 min read

Shepard Tones are a unique sound effect that can be used to create a sense of continuously rising or falling pitch. By combining different Shepard Tones, you can create interesting, other-worldly sounds.

Here is a quick walkthrough on how we create this auditory illusion

STEP 1

Edit a sound with a consistent pitch and volume to approximately 10-12 seconds long so that it can be looped.

STEP 2

Duplicate your loop and layer it with your existing track.

STEP 3

Pitch your duplicated clip down by one octave (12 semitones lower).

STEP 4

Gradually increase the pitch of both the original and duplicated clips by one full octave (12 semitones) over their entire duration. Increasing the pitch creates a rising Shepard tone; conversely, lowering the pitch creates a falling Shepard tone.

STEP 5

Using Clip Gain, gradually decrease the volume of the original clip and increase the volume of the duplicated clip; the lower octave ends on the same note that the original starts at, creating the illusion of a constantly rising pitch. To create a falling Shepard tone, you would do the opposite and increase the volume of the original clip while decreasing the volume of the duplicated clip.

STEP 6

If the Shepard tone is not looping as expected, then crossfade to taste—a four-frame crossfade is a good place to start, but it may need to be finessed to achieve the desired effect.