NES Light Zapper - Free Ableton Live Pack #199

Nintendo’s Light Zapper was an exciting part of my 80’s childhood. While getting blown away in a wild west gun dual in Wild Gunman and desperately firing away in Duck Hunt (often at that dog that laughs at you when you miss the ducks), the sound of that trigger clicking away was embedded into my brain.

If you listen closely, the spring resonates a pitch for a second or two after you fire the zapper. I decided to sample that ringing spring, as well as the trigger and whatever other noises I could make with it.

Free Ableton Live Pack 199 - NES Light Zapper

The result are 3 new instruments for Ableton Live.

First there’s a Drum Rack that is made up of the various clicks, clacks, and trigger noises. Each of the 16 sounds can be transposed, filtered, panned, and spread out in the stereo field.

Add some Light Zapper percussion to your next track.

Next is the One Player instrument. This is a melodic instrument that starts with the click of the trigger and then loops the resonating spring. It has a percussive, plucking sound. You can adjust a bandpass filter with some LFO modulation, change the way the sample loops, and adjust the Attack and Release. The Macros that control these parameters have been disguised with names of Light Zapper games on the NES. This is to encourage you to listen with your ears rather than think too technically about the instrument.

Adjust the sound of the One Player instrument by adding in your favorite NES Light Zapper Games.

Finally, the most versatile of the instruments, is the Two Player Light Zapper instrument. I’ve stacked two of the One Player instruments into an Instrument Rack and panned them to the left and the right. You can then adjust parameters for each layer (or “player”) separately. Player One is colored grey and Player Two is colored red. You can go inside each layer for additional controls. There’s a lot of room here for designing the exact sound your next track needs.

Sculpt new sounds with the Two Player, mulit-layered Light Zapper Instrument Rack

Have fun with these sounds in your own music!

Music Weeklies Challenge

The inspiration for the NES Light Zapper Ableton Live Pack came from the Music Weeklies Challenge. Each week, Music Weeklies Challenge gives producers a music making challenge. I hosted the challenge for the week of May 15-22nd, 2020. It’s the Junk Drawer challenge. Find five items in your junk drawer to sample and make music with. Among the items I sampled was my old Light Zapper.

Check out the video below, as I sample items from my junk drawer, build some instruments, and start making a track.

Need More Video Game Sounds in Your Music?

Check out some of my other Ableton Live Packs that include sounds made from classic video game systems.

150 Instruments and Effects sampled from the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Ableton Live Template loaded with tracks, effects, and instruments for creating authentic 8-bit music.