[Joe Hanley]

Hi Ben

Ben Sanders wrote:

Couldn’t you just transpose the second osc and then detune each osc manually to get the same effect?

Not really. The pulsating and smearing effect of detuning really only works when the two osc are at the same octave. If they’re 12 semi apart, yes you can still get a subtle pulsation, but not as washy as it would be at the same octave. And if the semi separation is higher than 12 semi, there’s practically no pulsation/smearing with detuning.

Whereas Unison doubles (or quadruples) each oscillator and detunes the duplicated oscillators, so it doesn’t matter where the semi is set, since they each get that nice same-octave smearing and pulsation.

Ben Sanders wrote:

Can’t you just use two different OSC waveforms and detune them?

Same as above. Once 2+ oscillators are no longer at the same octave, manually detuning them won’t create much of a pulsation/smearing effect. So Unison double/quadruples each of the oscillators regardless of what their Semi is set to.

[Joe Hanley]

Try starting with this:

1. Oscillator. I agree, Sine wave

2. Amp Envelope: loooong Release, so that the sound keeps going after you let go of the keys. And if your envelope’s release stage has a curve control, curve it upwards so that it hangs out at the top for most of the release. This will give the impression that it’s ringing out indefinitely.

3. Pitch Envelope. Routed to the Oscillator’s pitch. The amount should be enough to raise the pitch up one octave at the top of the Attack stage. Set the Sustain to 0, and both Decay and Release to about 590 ms. And then the key to getting this sounding just right is the Decay and Release stage curves. In Serum’s case I had to raise both curves up until they were a little above being a straight line. This will make the note hang out a little bit longer near the top so you can hear that higher octave, and then swoop down.

4. Voices. Poly. 4 voices.

And the notes are
– C E G B (2x)
– F A C E

[Joe Hanley]

Try starting with this (I used Serum):

1. Oscillator Saw wave. Unison with a ton of voices, 16 if you can. Heavy Detune so that it sounds pitchy. An even Blend of the voices. If you can control the voices’ start phases, you want about 50% aligned (in Serum that’s turning the Rand knob to about 50%). This way you get a bit of an attack transient.

2. LFO. We’ll use this to play each individual note. Route this to the Oscillator’s amp. For the waveform use a Saw that’s curved upwards. This will give you a fatter note. Set the Rate to a dotted 1/8th (bpm 120). Turn trig on. Now when you hold down a key, it will repeat a note over and over.

3. Filter. Low pass. 12 db. Cutoff a little above Noon, to be modulated by…

4. Filter Envelope. Set the Amount so that it starts at max Cutoff. Set Sustain to around 50%. And then set the Decay to be twice as long as two LFO cycles (about 500 ms). Now, when you hold down a key long enough to hear the LFO play two notes, the second note will be darker as the filter envelope moves the Cutoff down. The Envelope here is tricky so you’ll have to tweak.

5. Compressor: Turn down the threshold until you get about 8 dB of reduction on the first note. This will create a fat attack transient on the first note only, as the compressor will already be partly engaged when the second note comes in. Increase makeup gain to fix the overall drop in volume.

6. EQ: Subtly boost the highs with a high shelf.

7. Reverb: Big hall. Cut off some highs. Mix around 30%.

[Joe Hanley]

Sean Jorden wrote:

My pad is about subtleties and I think it works well with chords.

This feels good. The distortion in this case is really warm. Growly without being nasty. Very tasteful.

[Joe Hanley]

Mark Luljak wrote:

I’ll try.

I really like that second phasey mouthy layer, especially how its wobble varies each time it comes in.

[Joe Hanley]

Tyler Smith wrote:

A pad I whipped up with some distortion

Is the crackling that eventually comes in caused by the distortion? That’s a nice touch. The pad is so clean until that comes in. Unexpected in a nice way.

[Joe Hanley]

marydenbo wrote:

I made a fun evolving pad in Serum about two months ago:

Space Pad

That is really impressive. So much depth, and it goes forever. Really nice work.

[Joe Hanley]

Juri Djatsenko wrote:

Any advice on the bass

I’d say the sub layer could be a sine wave, but make sure it’s not processed by any filter, fx, etc. Just a clean layer for bottom end.

For the other layer, I’d start with a saw, low passed, and heavy Filter drive. If it still needs some grit, then probably some kind of distortion/waveshaping layered in, but not too much.

I’d say the Amp env it probably a simple short Decay/Release, 0 Sustain. And if you have the option, try making the Decay/Release curves Linear. This allows for very short Decays that still feel fat. Also, env attack miiiiight be up a hair. It sort of feels like the bass has a tiny fade in, but I could be wrong there.

[Joe Hanley]

I’m hearing two layers. A saw layer, and a percussive noise layer. I think the chord is Db Major (Db F Ab). Try starting with this in Sylenth1:

Saw Layer

1. Oscillator A1: Saw wave. 8 voices. Retrig off. 0 Stereo. And you’re right, the Detune amount here has to be set just right. You don’t want it too pitchy, but it’s gotta be smeared. I found a sweet spot right around 3.4

2. Filter A: Low Pass. Cutoff a little above Noon. Resonance around 11:00. Slope at 12 dB. Full Drive.

3. Amp Envelope. 0 Sustain. Quick Decay and Release.

4. Mix A set to about halfway

Noise Layer

1. Oscillator B1: Noise

2. Filter B: Low Pass. Cutoff a hair above Noon. A lot of Resonance. 24 dB slope. Combine the following amp envelope with this, and it shapes the noise into kind of clappy wood block.

3. Amp Envelope. Sustain a little above 0, very short Decay, and Release a little higher than the Decay. This way, the Decay/Sustain gives us an attack transient to create the percussive snap, while the Release allows for a little tail. Play short notes

4. Mix B all the way up.

Effects

1. Reverb. Medium Size, about 40% wet.

[Joe Hanley]

Are you referring to the bright, saw-ish, noisy lead that starts playing a single delayed note around 4:34?

[Joe Hanley]

Try starting with this:

Bass

1. Oscillators: Saw Wave. Add a sub oscillator one octave below with a Square Wave.

2. Filter: Low Pass. Turn Cutoff down until it matches the tone. Then boost Res by quite a bit in order to create an almost throat-like point

3. LFO: Saw wave, routed to Volume. 1/16th note rate.

4. Distortion: Just a touch to make it a bit dirty.

5. Mod Wheel: Route it to Cutoff. Hold down a note to start the bass and then move the Mod Wheel up and down to get that changing filter movement

Pad (Background Lead)

1. Oscillator: Medium Pulse Wave, to be modulated by…

2. LFO: Triangle or Sine wave, routed to the oscillator’s pulse width. This will take some tweaking, but I’m using Primer, and I have the Amount set to about 0.73, and the Rate at 1/8.

3. Voices: Poly mode. 3 voices (or more).

4. Mod Wheel: Just like the Bass. Route it to Cutoff. Hold down a chord, and then move the Mod Wheel up and down to get that changing filter movement

[Joe Hanley]

Much better! Nice work.

markypencil wrote:

I’m not too sure why I would have to turn down the filter mix level to switch to level. Once I turn down the filter level, it takes away the round sound and makes it sawy.

You have to click the actual “Mix” label so that it switches to “Level”. Then the knob becomes a simple volume knob. But I see you just turned down the Master volume, which in this case, has the same end result.

markypencil wrote:

I also want to make the sound more pinchy and clean.

Drag the Filter Envelope Decay curve down. It’s the little clear dot that sits on the Decay line. This will tighten it up. Also, shorten the Release so that it’s the same time as the Decay.

markypencil wrote:

I’m not sure if they are playing each chord repetitively or using LFO to modulate every 1/4.

I don’t think so. It’s not actually constant 1/4, the rhythm varies. Though you could use a combination of playing and LFO to get this. But I find the simplest approach is to just play it.

[Joe Hanley]

Try changing the following:

1. Enable the Sub filter (turn on the S button in the Filter section), because right now your Sub saw is not part of the filter pluck motion. Also, turn the Sub volume way down as it’s dominating the higher oscillator.

2. Turn Osc A Detune down so it’s not so pitchy, but instead just nice and smeared. Also set the Unison width (in the Global panel) to 0 so the pluck is centered

3. Set the Filter Envelope attack stage to 0. We don’t want any swelling up.

4. Turn off filter Key Tracking and turn down the Filter Envelope amount (to about 33) as it’s starting too high. (If you want Key Tracking on, which you only really need if you plan on playing the pluck over a several octave range, you’ll have to turn the Cutoff down to accommodate.) Turn up the Res, and turn down the filter Level (click the “Mix” label to switch to Level) to stop maxing the output.

5. Make the reverb wetter.

6. And last, see the section from my original post about the Amp Envelope.

[Joe Hanley]

Try starting with this:

1. Oscillator: Pulse Wave, with a pulse width that’s almost square but a bit thinner.

2. Filter: Low Pass. Turned down to give you a nice round tone. Crank the Res really high, almost to the point of self-oscillation (maybe even try letting it self-oscillate, see how that sounds). This will make the sound more shaped, and pointed in that mid-range. Get middle C sounding right, and at this point your high notes will be too round, so turn up Key Tracking until the higher notes brighten up.

3. Amp Envelope: Zero Sustain, long Decay and Release (about 2500 ms). Now it will ring out like a bell no matter how you play

4. Chorus: Mix in a little bit for some subtle movement. Otherwise the sound will be too stiff

5. Reverb: Very small, mild amount of wetness. We’re just looking for ambience here

6. Use the Pitch wheel to bend the pitch here and there, as they do in the recording. Try setting the range to around an octave

[Joe Hanley]

markypencil wrote:

I tried to attach my file so if you can review it but i guess it doesn’t allow fxp.

I’d be happy to take a look. Please zip the file first and then it will let you attach it.