Templates for Basic Synth Sounds

Bass Synth

First, we want to choose oscillators that will best suit the sound we have in mind. A Sine
wave has a smooth sound, ( think flute-like), with no harmonics that when playing low
pitches lends itself well to giving clarity and power to the notes.
If we look at the waveforms available on both Oscillators, we can see that Oscillator 2 has a
Sine Wave , so we’ll select that. While we’re on Oscillator 2, we’ll go to the “Tune” dial and
tune it down to -12 semitones, ( 1 octave lower) so that it’s playing in the Bass range. The
semitones will be displayed in the lower left corner

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 Next, let’s layer another sound to Osc. 2 to thicken the sound. Go to Oscillator 1 and see
which waveforms are available. In this case we’ll select the sawtooth wave which is raspier
sounding, but we’ll only blend a bit of it in with the sine wave to give it texture.

While we’re there, we’ll also tune Osc 1 down -12 semitones, (1 octave) to get a bass tone.
Then we’ll go to the Master section where we’ll mix Osc 2 to 12:00,Osc 1 to 10:00 and add
the Sub (low pitched oscillator) to 10:00.

Now we’ll head down to the filter and set the cutoff to 10:00 and Resonance to 10:00. This
will filter out any high frequencies . We won’t use the “ADSR”, or envelope, on the filter in
this patch, we’ll go through it a little later. While the “Cont”, or contour dial, is at 12:00 it
will have no effect . if we now go to the ADSR, or envelope, to the right we can no contour
how the volume will behave of the notes we play. It is set to fast attack, medium decay, a bit
of sustain and a touch of release, meaning that when you let go of the key it will linger
slightly as opposed to chopping off at the
end.

String Pad
“Pads” are basically sustaining polyphonic, (more than one note) textures used to play the
harmonic chords that support the melody.

Let’s start by selecting Sawtooth waveforms for both Oscillators. On Oscillator 2, we’ll go to
the “Fine Tune” and put it slightly out of tune by turning it slightly away from 12:00. You’ll
here it sound slightly “wider” or “swirly” when played alongside Osc1. We’ll turn the Sub off
the master section and put both oscillators 1 and 2 at noon.

We now have two sawtooth waves you can play chords with (make sure to set the” voices”
in the master section to the number of notes you want to play simultaneously, in this
example above I chose 6).
What makes a string pad have the “swirly” effect is the two oscillators swirling in and out of
tune together, (which is what happens when a real string section play together adding
“vibrato”).

We already achieved some of this by detuning Osc2, but now we’ll make Osc 1 wave slightly
in and out of tune.For this we’ll Use the LFO, or “low frequency oscillator”. An Lfo is a
“modifier”, meaning it doesnt make a sound but influences another component that makes
sound. An LFO emits a cyclical signal that is applied most frequently to another oscillator to
make pitch variation, or a filter to make the repetitive, staccato basslines you often here in
techno music. \in this case , we’ll apply it to Osc 1. Go to the grey tab in the middle of LFO 1
where you select what will be modified and select OSC 1. In this case we’ll put the rate
extremely slow (7:30) and amount very slight as well (just past noon). Now you can hear the
“swirly, chorusy” we associate with string pads.

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Final steps: Lets go to the filter and ADSR: Put the cutoff at 12:00 resonance low.If you want
the filter to “evolve”, (change as you hold down the chord) set the ADSR in the filter as in
the illustration and go to the “Cont” dial and turn it right to 5:00. You’ll hear the notes swell
in a way reminiscent to brass instruments.

Finally , go to the “ADSR” in yellow which affects the volume envelope and set it as shown-
slow attack medium decay, moderate sustain and long release so the chords hover after you
take your fingers off the keys.

(Something extra)- If you want to make the pad pulsate in time with your song, go to LFO 2
and put the “Sync” on so that it lights red. When the LFO is synced it means that it is
synchronized with the tempo of your song. Copy the settings below and you’ll here the
chords pulsate in time with your song when you hit “play”.
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Lead Synth Mono

For this sound, we’ll set Osc 1 to a Pulse wave and Osc 2 to a saw wave, while tuning both oscillators
up 12 semitones (it well tell you the value at the bottom right under “display”). Fine tune Osc 2
slightly off 12:00 to detune it. The pulse width on Osc 1 is at 11:00.
 The Master section with the oscillators as shown. Next to the
“Porta” (Portamento, which makes the notes glide from one to another), set it to “Auto” and the
voice to “Mono”. This means you will only be able to play one note at a time with this patch
(Monophonic).

Set LFO 1 to “PW”, the amount to 10:00 and click over the green waveform scrolling up and down
while clicking till you get the triangle waveform. Click on keytrigger so that it’s lit. Now the LFO will
make Osc 1’s waveform slowly widen and narrow back and forth, giving it movement.

For the filter, set the cutoff to 11:00 and resonance to 1:00, and the rest of the controls as shown,
setting the “Contour” to 5:00. This will make the filter open up every time you play a note.
Set the ADSR as shown.

And lastly, set the LFO 2 rate to 12:00ish, amount 11:30 and set the destination to Osc 2. Click and
swipe over the waveform till you get the sinewave (Wavy looking). This will now give a mild vibrato
to Osc 2.

Finally, to set it off, go down to “Control” where you’ve got the effects. Go to “Delay” and set
“Wet”(effect amount), to 10:00, delay to 10:00, and Feedback (which determines how many times
the echo will repeat) to 8:30is. Careful with the feedback,if you set it too high and can get very loud
on some patches and maybe blow a speaker if it’s turned up loud!