Hot answers tagged synthesizer
6
I love FM synthesis, but it is generally a bit on the esoteric side. FM8 is probably one of the easier FM synths to learn. But even after mastering it, you will still have a hard time achieving a particular sound that you want. FM8 is great for making weird bloopy, bleepy, buzzy, metallic sounds. And basses.
If you don't have it already, I'd recommend ...
5
First, the D-20 isn't a piano. It is a synthesizer, which is a type of instrument that allows you to create a wide variety of sounds. The good news is that the D-20 was intended for creating realistic instrument sounds rather than just sci-fi bleeps and bloops. The bad news is that by 2013 standards, the D-20 is going to sound a lot less realistic than ...
5
The basic idea
The characteristic "wobble" bass popular in mid-late 2000s dubstep is frequently (but not always) created by sweeping a lowpass filter over a harmonically-rich sound of some kind, usually some oscillators. The filter cuts out the higher harmonics, creating an effect similar to closing your lips while saying "ahhhhh. By moving the filter ...
4
The entire clip you provided is performed on a synthesizer which begins with a bowed cello like setting in the lower register accenting the first beat while a pizzicato double bass plays the next 7 beats. This repeats, so by the 3rd time the cello like instrument sounds at 0:15 a melodic element is introduced which might be best described as a combination of ...
3
Definition of vibrato I'm using is a periodic change in the pitch of a note. What happens when a musical note consisting of a multiple of pure tones is subject to vibrato? I'm answering this way because the perceptual effect of what happens may vary between different listeners.
Listener 'A' may hear something gliding back and forth whereas Listener 'B' may ...
3
While you could create a wobble in Audacity, you might go insane trying.
Instead, download pure data, and work through the tutorials. You don't need to get into much advanced stuff, just learn how to create an OSC~ and a DAC~ and a bit on filtering and FM. Then you can hook up as many oscillators as you want and modulate them and the filters. That's pretty ...
3
Here are some techniques and things I used improperly for a long time that I think will help you. Luckily for you, I've researched a lot of techniques for dubstep and EDM in general. And I have a lot of experience with NI Massive.
What I did for a long time was use the EQ too boost the loudness of my instruments which is NOT what you want to do. Using the ...
3
Unfortunately this will not work. Or more specifically, it will not work well. The problem is that the signal sent to the speakers is very different than the line level signal expected by the amps.
There are speaker level to line level converters (most often used in car audio), but the resulting signal often leaves something to be desired.
If you are ...
2
By slow I mean the regular notes have a sort of bite and feeling as if
someone were strumming them ridiculously fast (best way I can describe
it). When they are played in this low note range the reverberation or
super fast strumming effect slows down more and more the lower it
gets. Its almost analogous to someone applying and LFO to the bass at
...
2
Sound On Sound's Synth Secrets series is a goldmine of info about synthesizers.
My problem is I have no clue where to start.
Start by talking to people. In person if you can, or in forums. Try to avoid buying stuff right away. Use free software like Audacity and Pure Data as well as the demo modes of the various commercial DAWs and synths.
This is a ...
2
Unfortunately, pure-controller keyboards often have low-quality keybeds. The good news is that there are a lot of great synths with good keybeds on the used market. Just look for the high-end synths of yesterday that have since fallen out of fashion.
Instead of a SY99, look for the Yamaha EX5. The SY99 is Yamaha's best FM-engine keyboard, so that's why it ...
2
A solid understanding of, and lots of experience with mixing is of course difficult to do without. But I wouldn't necessarily consider that a trick.
I think one of the industry standard tricks is TC Electronic's Finalizer.
It uses a combination of frequency based compression, limiters, normalizers, etc. to really fill out the frequency space.
They're not ...
2
Disassemble the device until you can see the broken part.
Look for identifying codes on the part. (If it's like the picture you linked to, you might have to desolder it to look at the underside.)
Web search for all combinations of such codes, and try including the keyword "datasheet". (You may have to add or remove hyphens/spaces, or use a prefix of the ...
2
Here is a troubleshooting guide for your sustain pedal:
Sustains Continually:
Some keyboards will read the "polarity" of the sustain pedal when they are first turned on. If you have your foot on the pedal when you turn on the keyboard it will sustain all notes until you press the pedal (the pedal works in reverse). To fix this, simply turn off the ...
1
You can get this exact sound from various digital effects pedals - my Line6 HD500 and an earlier Zoom 9000 both had presets that could do this.
You need a noise gate and compressor - to give you a sharp attack and then keep the signal gain at a high level until you stop the note. Once you have that envelope shaping, you can use whatever waveform you need, ...
1
To me, that "guitar" sound seems fairly close to a square wave - maybe a saw that has been heavily low-pass filtered with little or no resonance and then heavily distorted. The "vocoder" sound you are hearing is probably just a vowel / formant filter. If you don't have a formant filter, you can use parallel bandpass filters to accomplish the same thing.
...
1
As ObscureRobot is getting to, your problem is coming from interferences, particularly from frequencies you can't hear. As you play lower, the frequency difference (in Hz) between the octaves (or whatever harmonic you have playing) decreases, and therefore the apparent LFO rate decreases.
For example, An A octave has one note at 220 and another at 440. ...
1
You probably want an M-Audio Keystation 88es.
They are very basic pieces of equipment with all the essentials: aftertouch, of course, pitch bend, mod wheel, and volume control. Pedal inputs for sustain and expression. MIDI out and MIDI over USB. No tone module; it's a straight controller.
They are marketed as "semi-weighted," which just means they've got a ...
1
This is not the most suited answer but it's what I got from Reddit.
From Reddit user valiantism:
Ok I think I got fairly close. I made a thor with 3 wavetable oscs.
OSC1: PPG 8 HP VCF @ position 44. Turn the octave down to 3. OSC2: PPG 8 HP VCF @ position 34. Turn the semi up to 7. OSC3: PPG 27 Formant @ position 2.
Route all 3 oscs to a Lowpass ...
1
If you are on Linux I recommend supercollider or pure data. There are also other modular synths on Linux, which are more turn key than PD or supercollider, which are more like programming languages. Check out this project http://alsamodular.sourceforge.net/
1
You can create 2 layers of the same PAD.
PAD #1 leave as it, but route PAD #1 to a new audio track/insert which we'll call PAD #2.
With PAD #2, you can use a stereo widening + reverb, while keeping PAD #1 untouched.
You can then blend PAD #2 with the stereo and reverb into PAD #1 to get that extra wideness.
Note, you can also change the EQ on PAD #2 and ...
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