Lead sound design: Tips and Tricks

[Tusker]

I thought it would be helpful to have a thread to post the tricks we know on lead sound design ... not particular to any instrument, since many instruments have comprehensive features.

I'll start with this little trick, a resonant filter through a distorted circuit is the basis of many leads today. While guitars often use band-pass (wah) or low-pass filters, the keyboardist has a potent additional weapon at their finger tip. The high pass filter. Tune the high pass filter just above the fundamental, then run the sound through an amp sim or distortion EFX. Dial up the resonance so it is just shy of a howl. Then assign a controller to sweep the filter for effect. Use a saw wave so you have a bunch of overtones to work with.

Different from a guitar, yet curiously strong. :D

Got tips? :wink:

Jerry

[Spacehog]

I came up with one that works quite well for me. I have, on one of my leads, key pressure (aftertouch) assigned to an up-bend of about a quarter-tone. That way, I can get vibrato just by pressing the key harder and softer, so it's a much more similar action to that of a guitar... and I don't need to take my other hand off another board to go for the pitch or mod wheels :)

Martin

[Taurus]

Spacehog's trick works with a Hammond patch as well, using aftertouch to control the rotary speakers. Though mostly I use a slider for that.

Leads in general, I make sure theres not much attach in them unless they're velocity-triggered. I always use a crossfade-reverb/delay effect on my leads to make it sound more full.

If you have cutoff/resonance sliders that work 'realtime' then moving those togheter (not nescesarilly parellel) can create some computersoundish-like 'dive' effects. Sometimes fun to do at the end of your keysolo (last note still holding).
DONT try this on your monitor/speakersystem or you might blow your speakers if youre doing it the wrong way. Dont put up the resonance too high. Test with headphones first.

If you have two synths you can get nice harmonic solos by playing a lead on one, and sending that mididata realtime to your othersynth who is tuned up to a 3rd. On most synths you can do this without needing a second one, unless you want that second sound to be something completely different ( think of emulating a synthsawlead/guitarlikelead unision ).

[Tusker]

Hmmh, I never tried after touch as a manual vibrato. That's pretty creative. I do have a distorted clav patch with +2 semitones, but I use for pitch bending when my left hand is busy. I'll go try that.

Taurus, I assign leslie to a slider too. It kinda depends on how fast the leslie acceleration is. If (like me) you like a slow dramatic acceleration/de-acceleration, aftertouch may not give you enough time to obtain the full effect. I like your leads in thirds tip!

Here's my aftertouch tip for virtual analog and analog synths. I do use aftertouch a lot for synthetic leads that remind me of reed instruments. I put a little opening of the filter and a little (subtle) oscillator sync modulation on to aftertouch. I find that moving the synced oscillator oscillators' pitch up slightly, emulates the kind of flare/snarl you get on a reed instrument. The lower-mid harmonics drop away in a complex way that cannot be replicated by a high pass filter. You'll need a very mild sync tone for this to be attractive. A three oscillator patch is preferred with a mild (triangle/sine) waveform tuned to the fundamental, a synced narrow pulsewave at +1.5 octaves, and of course the syncing oscillator at about +1.5 octaves also.

With this variation on aftertouch, your emotional high points can have vibrato from your left hand and the flare from your right.

Best,

Jerry

[Deceit]

The aftertouch is very useful, you can also assign an overdrive increment - I think Jens does it with that, don't know how, but in the Tuska 2003 video he presses harder the key and the sound "clips".
Deceit.

[Tusker]

Deceit, please tell us more about this video and where to order it.

Typically, digital distortions (such as those triggered by aftertouch through midi) will step or crackle if you change the gain in the effect itself. However you can typically change the gain smoothly by raising the volume of an oscillator, opening a filter, cross fading another oscillator, raising filter resonance etc. I wonder which techniques Jens was using.

Best,

Jerry

[Deceit]

I found it on eDonkey - it's about 200 mb...and I think it's streamed from a tv recording...however the quality's pretty high.
Deceit.

[Tusker]

Hmmh, I'd really like to buy a VHS or DVD. ...

Ok here's my tip for the day:

Attacks ... a lead sound has one. Your sound can fade in, use a trumpet like swell. simply start, have a bite like a piano or guitar, or some other variation. Generally there are two approaches: program it using the synthesis functions or add a sampled attack (a short sound that immediately fades out) on one of the tones of the patch. The sample approach is easer, but less controllable (you can adjust the volume of the attack sample while playing typically)

I personally like to use pitch envelopes to make clicks and plucked sounds for the attack portion of my leads. If you sweep the pitch of an oscillator from high to low very fast (5 milliseconds) you get a click, a little longer and you get a plucked string or an explosion depending on how you set it up. If you synth allows you to vary the decay of the pitch envelope, you can get all these different effects by moving a controller (slider, mod wheel, etc.) The upward pitch sweeps are less immediately useful than the downward ones, but brave souls can get burps and grunts from them. Try it. :D

On one of my lead patches, the X dimension of the AN1X ribbon is set to envelope pitch depth. The Z dimension (pressure) is set to envelope decay time. If I don't touch the ribbon, the sound simply starts, like an organ. If I move to the right I get a click, a plucked sound or explosion depending on how hard I press. If I move to the left I get a burp.

Jerry

[Hipelius]

I think I should say something too:

My synth has only 2 effect processors (sigh) so there's not much room for tweaking. I use a simple sine wave oscillator with a sip of reverb (maybe I should change it to delay) and a lot of overdrive. The sine wave itself is on a very quiet volume and the overdrive effect amps it a lot. And I've tweaked it so that it sounds more like a sawtooth than sine wave. It sounds like a mixture of Jens Johansson's and Janne Warman's lead sounds. I like it a lot :P

[Tusker]

Yeah, a sine or triangle wave through an overdrive aquires a lot of the overtones of the sawtooth, but with more interest and aliveness. 8)

I sometimes run a sawtooth through some kind of amp sim, but I eq to cut the overtones down, post amp.

Reverb isn't bad for leads per se. It depends on how many notes per second one wants to play. If a person has a lot of tonal control, they could play fewer notes. (I'm trying, I'm trying. :wink: )

Hipelius, try this out:

You got this lead you like, right? And I'm assuming you don't really need the mod wheel for vibrato (most modern proggers use the pitch bend for manual vibrato). In the event that the modulation controller or some other controller is available, try this...

Copy the tone you have to other tones in the patch (activate 2-3 tones). Then turn the amp on the others down to 0, so they don't sound. Pitch them up say one to +1 octave, one to +1.5 octaves and another to +2 octaves. Then map the volumes of these tones to modulation (or another controller). I think you'll find that even without resonant filters, you get a very usable wah on the Korg, this way. You might need to change the high pitched waveforms to something a little brighter than a sine (like a triangle) to make it a full wah.

Best,

Jerry

[Hipelius]

Hmm.. interesting :P . But the lead sound is a Program so I should just make a new Combi of it, no problem. Must try. I use manual vibrato myself. If I use the modulaton it sounds like crap.
Well I'm trying to play many notes per second (;D) so maybe delay would be better.
Oh, and by the way, I just noticed that I use pulse wave instead of sine :oops:

[Tusker]

A narrow pulse has most of the overtones of a saw wave, just in different volumes. Closer to the open end of the wah, than the closed end I imagine. :)

Tip for the day:

Ring modulators can add a great grunt or snarl effect. When combined with distortion they are great for explosions too. It works like this: when you send 2 waves through a RM, the RM send out the sum and difference frequencies of the waves going in. Sounds pretty normal when the two waves are in tune, but all kinds of odd sounds come out when the two are not tuned. In general you want0 to have two kinds of control for a ring modulator.

1) Tuning where you can move the oscillators in and out of consonance, or

2) cross fading, where you raise the volume of the ring modulator to make the effect.

I sometimes tune one of the oscillators to a very low pitch, to get gurgles and other effects. Since ring modulators, essentially thicken the sound, they are most effective with mild (sine, triangle) waveforms. With saws and pulses they can sound very buzzy. However the buzziness can be very effective explosion effect if you are subsequently passing the lead into distortion. For example, is you sweep one of the oscillators downward in pitch very fast and run it through a ring modulator, you get a lot of buzz. Send that through a distortion and it sounds like a bomb went off. 8) The easiest way to sweep the oscillator pitch downard is to use a pitch envelope (on one oscillator, not both). Controlling the depth of the pitch envelope will determine how much explosion you get.


Jerry

[X-dark]

When you say distortion you say overdrive or hi-gain ? I don't understand the difference between the both.

[Tusker]

I'll try some definitions. However, when I say distortion, I usually mean it as an encompassing thing. It means you are putting enough signal into a circuit to go beyond the available headroom causing it to clip. There are different kinds of linear and non-linear clipping. Sometimes you need more gain/distortion for a trick to work, sometimes less. It;s hard to be specific with all the different EFX implementations in keyboards these days. But they usually are analogous to a physical amp or circuit. My perspective:

Distortion - Usually refers to transistors that are being clipped. Usually result in a very square wave sound with odd harmonics plus noise. An example would be a proco rat pedal. If you imagine a sine wave pushing up against the headroom, the transistor will cut it off sharply, making almost a square wave when clipping.

Overdrive - Usually a tube amp so, the harmonics are even order harmonics (mostly) plus noise. Of course (to confuse the issue) there are overdrive circuits made out of transistors. If you imagine a sine wave pushing up against the headroom, the tube will round it off creating more low frequency by-products than a transistor which will be more shrill.

Amp Simulation - Typically a simulation of tube amps which also include some sympathetic resonance with the output tubes.

Distorted Leslie - Clipping in the tube in a leslie (B3) amp/speaker.

Different amps and digital simulations have different clipping characteristics and different post clipping EQ. Generally, it's going to be easier to test the effect on a distortion (transistor style) with low gain. You can then try to find sweet spots with a tube or tube simulation. Trial and error is key. Post distortion EQ also affects the tone greatly.

Did I answer your question? Hope this helps,

Jerry

[Hipelius]

Hmm.. I just started wandering why my synth has 2 extra outputs (1/L/mono, 2/r, 3, 4). I browsed through the manual and it seems that it's possible to put the effects through the extra outputs. So I made a version of my lead sound with the oscillator put to level 1(so quiet that you can't hear it in outputs 1 and 2) and then amp it loud to outputs 3 and 4.
What's point? I'm going to buy a guitar overdrive floor effect and connect output 3 to it, making it possible to get a kickass lead sound!!

Jens Johansson does that by the way :P :wink:

[X-dark]

Did I answer your question? Hope this helps

I think it's ok. Thank you. I must try now. But I don't mastered very well my triton le.

[Tusker]

Tip: How to use reverb in a lead.

OK most of us know better than to bathe a lead in reverb. We use a delay instead because that provides some depth without making things mushy. So what can we do with the (unused?) reverb processor?

You can build a comb-filter out of it, using it to make string leads that are closer to an orchestra, or giving you synthy leads a kind fo woody bite. How, simply shorten the reverb time to as much as possible (less than 5 milliseconds) . Than increase the reverb volume. You'll hear phase cancellations with the original sound. Tune those phase cancellations to where they are attractive (I like a woody/beefy sound). And you have added a lot of texture and depth to your lead sound.

Best,

Jery

[Tusker]

Tip: Using Velocity and Release Velocity in a Lead.

For velocity it's fun to map it to brightness (fitler cutoff) or loudness (amp), but this can work against you in a sustained sound. Why? Because you may attack a sound hard, the music may change to something mellower, and your sound is sticking out like a sore thumb, sounding very bright, or loud. (Or vice versa.) So it's better to map it to the brightness of the attack in some way. That way, at the moment of attack, you can communicate your intent, without painting yourself into a corner. And use aftertouch, a wheel, slide, breath controller or pedal for overall control of brightness and volume. I use a pedal and it's great for swells.

Release Velocity - Has some use for monophonic leads, but really comes into own on polyphonic stuff. Whoever said a lead had to monophonic? :wink: Simply you use a slightly longer release time than normal and map release velocity to shorten the release time. Calibrated correctly this give you enormous control over staccato and legato touch. Something that works well when you are doing two handed work. Additionally you can trigger sound off it, bt I find this hard to control. The closest I come to this is to map the filter ADSR release time. This creates a kind of "wumph" when you release your finger fast and the filter closes before the amplifier. This can be attractive and create a breathing (gasp, grunt) to your lead.

Jerry

[PsawniK]

To get a really aggressive lead sound, run the layers through an EQ gain (like +18 dB). Then, use a compressor as your first effect. Lower the attack, decay time, and threshold all the way and max out the compression ratio and output level. Then, run the compressor into a distortion effect and turn the distortion amount up a lot. This will smooth out the compressor while keeping the biting attack. Last, add some chorus/delay/reverb.

[Hipelius]

To get a really agressive lead sound (like mine ^__^) use first the overdrive effect and put the overdrived sound through distortion.

[Tusker]

Very interesting tips. Pswanik, what frequencies are you adjusting on your lead (in the EQ section), and wha is the core sound? I assume from your use of compressor that you have a sampled attack (bell, guitar, piano) of some sort, coupled with a synth waveform of some sort (Saw, Pulse), and that the compressor helps glue the two together as well as make the dynamics more aggressive. Is that correct?

Best,

Jerry

[PsawniK]

Very interesting tips. Pswanik, what frequencies are you adjusting on your lead (in the EQ section), and wha is the core sound? I assume from your use of compressor that you have a sampled attack (bell, guitar, piano) of some sort, coupled with a synth waveform of some sort (Saw, Pulse), and that the compressor helps glue the two together as well as make the dynamics more aggressive. Is that correct?

Best,

Jerry

I don't add any EQ to the overall sound; the only EQ is the 18 dB boost at the beginning. I'm not using a sampled attack; the compressor is what gives the lead its attack. The waveforms I'm using are two types of square waves and a triangle wave, and for the feedback I use a triangle wave. The distortion after the compressor is what smooths the sound out. Without it, all you would hear is a loud pop and then a really quiet square wave due to the compressor. A positive side effect of the compressor is that it seems to get rid of a lot of the noise generated by the initial EQ overdrive. Another thing I do is boost the resonance on the layers (moreso on the feedback layer).

[Tusker]

So what is this "EQ gain" you are referring to? Is it a distortion/clipping/waveshaper type of process. Why is it call EQ gain? Is there some ability to dial/emphaize specific frequencies? Sounds like a cool DSP if so.

Best,

Jerry

[PsawniK]

So what is this "EQ gain" you are referring to? Is it a distortion/clipping/waveshaper type of process. Why is it call EQ gain? Is there some ability to dial/emphaize specific frequencies? Sounds like a cool DSP if so.

Best,

Jerry

On the S90 (the synth I'm using), you can add EQ to the individual layers of the sound before any filtering/effects take place. There are parametric, graphic, +6 dB, +12 dB, and +18 dB EQs (IIRC). The + EQs add volume to the layers and can cause them to clip, which is how I use them.

[Tusker]

Gotcha. 8) More gain into the compressor and distortion/overdrive. Thanks. Yeah it's funny how the tone of digital DSP's are sensitive to gain staging isn't it?

Cheers,

Jerry

[PsawniK]

Gotcha. 8) More gain into the compressor and distortion/overdrive. Thanks. Yeah it's funny how the tone of digital DSP's are sensitive to gain staging isn't it?

Cheers,

Jerry

Yeah, I noticed that if I use less gain going into the distortion, the tone loses some treble and it seems less "aggressive".

[Deceit]

Sibelius, welcome to the world of sicko gear-maniac keyboardists :D!
Deceit.

[Hipelius]

Sibelius..... >_<

It's H ipelius :twisted: ..

[Deceit]

LOL!
:P :P :P :P :P
LOLOLOLOL!
Deceit.

[Hipelius]

<:)

[Tusker]

Tip for the day:

Imitate the human voice when developing lead ideas. On some level, human acoustic cognition favors sounds that approximate the human expressions. From time to time, instruments appear which capture some aspect of vocal expression (violin- > Vibrato, Trumpet -> Wah, Theremin -> Soprano, etc.). It will help you if you think about singing, talking, grunting, yelling, whispering, clicking etc. as means of expression. A slightly broader area to mine for ideas is animal expressions (roars, whistles, groans).

Figure out what controls (velocity, after-touch, wheel, etc.) will yield the expressions you need. The practice the expression till you can make it work consistently. Your lead sound, will contain trade-offs of course. Making some expressions possible may prevent you from developing other expressions.

Instead of blindly imitating other instruments, try to understand how other instruments have imitated the human voice.

Best,

Jerry

[Tusker]

Tip for the day:

Use portamento well to add to the "synthiness" of your lead. No other instrument can do portamentoand slides quite as smoothly as a synthesizer. If your synth allows control of it (on/off or portamento time) it's worth mapping it to a slider or pedal to control it. Portamento should be timed to work with the speed of the runs you are using. Too little and there is no effect, too much and the lead/solo becomes a mess. As with everything, practise is key to knowing where to set it. A little goes a long way.

Some parameters for monophonic portamento (I don't find poly portamento particularly useful):

- Portamento can be linear or exponential, each has it's attractions. YOu can't tell the difference at low levels, but in those slow, across the keyboard sweeps, you can.
- Portamento can be always on or legato triggered. Legato triggering is very useful for having real time control of portmento. You may need to work on your keyboard touch (legato/staccato), to fully use this feature.
- Portamento can latch to the note or the pitch. Pitch based portamento is particularly good for controlling those long pitch slides, with additional notes.

To tune your ear, try the following two exercises.

1) Patch up your lead sound, then play a repeated 4 note ostinato (arpeggio) in 8 notes, 16 notes, then 32 notes, try different tempi. Play with the portamento time. Notice how different portamento rates are required to give a musical effect at different speeds? Good.

2) Now try different intervals,less than an octave, and 2 and 3 octaves. (Yes this is a two handed exercise.) Notice how you need to vary the portamento rate to make it work in each case? Good.

Hopefully this helps you understand that portamento is not a "set it and forget it" parameter. If so, you are well on your way.

Jerry

[Tusker]

This one is partly a sound design tip, partly a performance tip.

Be aware of the range in which you want the lead to play.

This is a psycho acoustic issue. Generally, every sound has a fundamental frequency with overtones pitched above it. Most natural pitched instruments (voice, pipes, strings,) have diminishing amplitude in each successive overtone. You don't have to follow this structure, though 99% of the time what we call an attractive sound, follows this structure. So what are the implications of this structure?

Well it means that if you want to emphasize tonal variation, you want the sound in the lower-mid (baritone) of the human hearing range. Why? Because the more overtones are stacked in the human hearing range, the more easily the human ear can hear and appreciate the tonal variations. Most of the time, it is a waste to play a wah sound more than an octave above middle C. The limitation is not in the synth. It's that the resonant frequencies by which the ear tells vowel formations are located between 800 herz and 1300 hertz. The fundamental frequency of the C above middle C (high end of Alto range) is about 1000 Herz, which means at that point you are beginning to miss acoustic cues. This is one reason why telephone voice recognition systems sometimes have a hard time with high pitched voices.

But the guitar plays down there in the baritone range. Don't I want to be different?

Sure yeah you can play where the birds sing, just don't expect everyone to appreciate the typical tonal (wah, filter, sync sweep) tricks. Generally you will have to go into the atonal dimension (hiss, noise, blips, think like a flute) to create memorable textural information in the higher range. However, higher voices can often utilize more pitch range in their melodies (without making people seasick) than lower voices can. So when you design your lead sound, be aware of the range in which you want the lead to play.

Hoping this helps,

Jerry

[Tusker]

Here are some ideas for cutting through a mix of busy guitars.

One approach is to create a ton of distortion. Since the distortion is continuously changing (distortion has random information, which forces the ear to re-calibrate), it attracts the attention of the ear. Also frequently, there are enough overtones to go above the rest of the band's frequency spectrum (mid-range) and be heard. You could call this the Derek Sherinian method.

I've found that running sounds through a good quality tube processor, helps the synth stay in your face, and more forward in the mix. I'm not sure why. I think's it's partly the compression. The tube compresses the signals somewhat which reduces the dynamic range, so that even if everything around you gets louder, or you play a softer note, the signal doesn't vanish. However, I have to admit that using digital compressors is not nearly as cool, though you would think it would be based on the theory. Again, I'm not sure why. You could call this the Jan Hammer method though some of his compression was from solid state processing, not tubes.

Aproach three is to write parts that stick out. This could include tuning oscillators in fifths and thirds, playing lead lines that are atonal or harrmonically disjointed, letting parts cover a wide range (more than three octaves), or simply playing rhythmic patterns that are unusual. You could call this the Keith Emerson method.

If you are finding any of these tips helpful, give me a shout. I'm anjoying writing them. I hope they help you.

Cheers,

Jerry

[Tusker]

This post is about overcoming control trade-offs.

Generally, you can make a sound predictable, by completely automating it, or you can reserve the ability to control parts of it. You could think of this as operating in four different levels of complexity:

1 - Complete automation (where the timbre, pitch and dynamics are completely guided by envelopes and LFO's. All the player does is select the note. Some early analog sweeps (think of Geddy Lee's Tom Sawyer sweep) are like this, where the synth is doing all the work.

2 - Note-on variations - where the velocity, or other data captured at the at note-on can be affected by the player, and any subsequent activity is in the hands of the synth. Good examples of these are the velocity sensitive electric pianos and marimbas of the FM age. You could control the timbre by how you attacked the note, but after that the only thing you could control was when you took your hand off the note!

3 - Real-time deterministic variations - The modulation matrixes of today's digital synths allow the performer to devise sounds that they can have complete control of. For example some leads are breath controlled such that until breath is received in the breath controller, no sound is made. Similarly one of my theremin style leads makes no sound, until the mod wheel is moved. So dynamics are controlled completely manually

4 - Real-time stochastic variations - This is where real times changes are initiated by the performer, but their maybe complex interactions, which have unpredictable outcomes. For example, the performer may control the rate of an LFO which controls the rate of an LFO which controlls the rate of yet another LFO which modulates pitch. The performer may know that changing the rate will create an effect but may not know exactly what that effect will be. The outcome is not truly random but is very close to it.

So what's the point? Is one level better than the other. No, I like the Tom Sawyer sweep even though it sounds exactly the same every time that note is depressed. What it means is that the performer trades predictability and consistency for personal expression as they move from level 1 to level 3. Level 4 is primarily useful for creating pseudo-random effects, or for surprising the performer, thus allowing the performer to improvise with the machine. In general though, your orchestrated and arranged parts, will sound most cohesive if you take the complexity out. (Yes, even reducing the velocity sensitivity of that rhythm piano patch.) Reserve the complexity for the solos and avant garde tricks.

Best,

Jerry

[Drusillus]

Tusker these tips are really thought-provoking, you've got us all thinking in different ways. Please keep it up!

[Tusker]

Rick, you are welcome. :)

Jerry

[Cary]

If you are finding any of these tips helpful, give me a shout. I'm anjoying writing them. I hope they help you.

Yes Jerry, I am finding these tips very helpful. I have been referencing them quite frequently lately because I have been programming a lot more than I normally do.
Got any guidance for pipe organ patches? I find the roland JV patches a bit too bright and cold sounding for my tastes. I have programmed a deep woody-sounding patch using 2 pipe organs, oboe, and harmon mute. Slide 1 controls the woods' cutoff slide 2 controls pipes cutoff.

edit: rectified half-asleep misidentification of oboe as a reed. sheesh!

[Tusker]

Hey thanks Cary. Good to hear from you. That's a good subject for a tip. How to do pipe organs. I've played them regularly, and there nothing like a 32 foot pipe vibrating. A subwoofer does not come close.

That said I like your ideas. Yes putting the woodwinds in lieu of the pipe organ waveform is a good trick for getting more tonal range. You can slow down the TVA attack if the first part of the wavefrom is distracting. I find myself using the oboe waveforms particularly for Fagotte stops. Time to try the harmon mute out! Yes I find rompler organs a little too bright and thin at times.

These are some tricks I have tried and found helpful:

1) Increasing the analog feel parameter helps increase the chorusing. Use this in inverse proportion to the amount of specific detune.

2) To compress a sound (emphasize the mid-range) tune the partials in a concave manner (lowest sounds slightly sharp, highest sounds slightly flat). For more breathy, bright or less powerful timbres, tune it in a slightly convex manner. (lowest sounds slightly flat, highest sounds slightly sharp). Generally power-pipe-organs benefit from "concaving".

3) I find the pipe organ bottom to be far more powerful with a saw wave at the lowest frequency (-24?), run through a low pass filter, slightly resonant (say 12-20). This gets noisy at the high end of the frequency range, so I allow this tone to taper off gradually above middle C (use the bias setting in the TVA menu). Similarly pulse waves (B43, B44) are good substitutes for reed waveforms if low pass filtered.

4) To add a chiffy quality to one of the stops, consider letting the filter do some of the work. Run white noise through a band-pass filter tuned to track the keyboard. Raise the resonance to maximum (lower the volume so you don't blow your speakers). You should hear a sine wave with some noise around it. Tune it to the keyboard, then blend with your other pipe organ sounds to taste.

5) A good reverb is the heart of a good pipe organ. Have you ever heard a pipe organ in a living room? Not good. So use the best reverb you've got, a convolving one based on real world impulses if you can. If you must use the on-board reverb on a synth, try to maximise the signal level within the reverb processor and control the reverb amount by adjusting the amount of signal being blended back from the processor. This maximises the signal level in the processor, reducing reverb hiss and the grainy-ness of the digital reverb tail.

Hoping this helps,

Jerry

[Tusker]

Tip for the day: The Oscillator Sync lead

Today I thought we should discuss an important class of analog (and virtual analog) leads that give you a ripping, cutting sound, and good tonal control. And it doesn't sound like a guitar, but it does provide some aggression.

The Oscillator Sync lead.

Space doesn't permit a full discussion of oscillator sync (i.e. synchronization) , but essentially by making one oscillator restart whenever another one does, it's possible to create jagged discontinuities in the waveform. Discontinuities are heard by your ears as a bright sound (remember that the saw and pulse waves are the brightest because of their discontinuities).

The degree of discontinuity is primarily dependant on the wave-shape of the synced oscillator and the pitch of the syncing oscillator. When you push the syncing oscillator's frequency upward, the synced oscillator snarls, although it's fundamental frequency remains the same. This is really all you need to know to make a sync lead.

You want more detail? Ok go here, and come back when you finished reading. (Don't forget to browse the hard-sync workshop for the pretty pictures.)

http://www.clavia.se/nordmodular/Modularzone/Theory%20and%20history.html

Ok, finished reading?

You can't do this on a rom -based synth like the Fantom X, the Motif and the Triton, but the DSP synths and expansions (like the V-Synth, the Motif's AN expansion, and the Triton's MOSS expansion) will let you do it. As will many analog synths. Kurzweil's VAST will also do this.

What does it sound like? Well when it snarls, it sounds just a little bit like you are sweeping a wah pedal/filter going into a distortion, (like a guitar) but it is uniquely synth-sounding. So it's (in my view) the perfect lead sound for prog keyboardists. Additionally, the snarl doesn't have a lot of whistle to it (some resonant filters howl and obscure the fundamental frequency), so it can be aggressive without clouding the notes you are playing. Lastly, it sounds like a synth, not a guitar!

The remaining question is how should I make it snarl?

There are usually three ways. In all three cases you are modulating the frequency of the syncing oscillator with something: a pedal, and envelope or an LFO:

1 link it to a pedal or slider and do it yourself. This is kinda like a manual wah. You get full control.
2 trigger it with an envelope. This like an auto-wah though you have a lot more control, than you would with an auto-wah (for example you can have the envelope blip up and down quickly, while the sound is sustaining).
3 modulate it with an lfo. With a sine LFO, this sounds like the timbre is changing all the time. It is best with subtle timbral changes. Though you can do some high speed blippy things with the LFO that sounds more like a spaceship at warp speed.

The amount of snarl can be varied. As you might guess, you won't hear any ripping until the syncing oscillator is pitched above the synced oscillator, causing it to re-trigger. Generally (somewhat like a filter) the most ripping occurs as you raise the pitch of the syncing oscillator from zero to 1-2 octaves above the synced oscillator, thereafter the effect begins to thin out. Typically in a two oscillator synth, an oscillator sync lead would be a single oscillator sound (i.e. the synced oscillator). Usually the syncing oscillator has a volume of zero in the oscillator mixer.

The only thing to watch for is to not introduce too much filter action (resonances and sweeps) because it obscures the beautiful oscillator snarl.

Have fun with oscillator synchronization. And enjoy an aggressive, controllable synth lead that doesn't need to go through a distortion. (Though that can sound nice too.)

Jerry

[Drusillus]

Cool thanks for the latest tip Tusker.

To give a real-world example, the main lead sound Michael Pinnella has been using since TIO has been a square wave synched to a saw wave on a JP-8000.

[Liquid Shadow]

I'd just like to chime in and tell Tusker that these tips are very informative, and very...how should I say it?....thought provoking...as far as creating sounds go. I really enjoy everything you're saying man. I may be limited to what I can do by my massive Casio synth engine, but this stuff is still very good to know. :)

[TritonuS]

Tusker, thank you for the great tips! It's great that you have the energy to share your wisdom!

Ok, here's a thing I tried the other day on the triton. The problem is it needs at least two insert effects.

We all know a synth lead has to be monophonic to make those fast arpeggios etc sound clear and accurate. We also know that there's heaps of cool chord and interval stuff you can do only with a polyphonic sound. So, I thought, why not make a lead sound that's switchable from mono to poly?

At least the Triton doesn't allow this naturally so I had to find a way around the problem. A major condition was that the change should happen with a SINGLE movement, i.e. twisting one knob, pressing one pedal, sliding one slider, otherwise it just won't be very handy.

1)pick let's say two monophonic lead patches that you think sound good together.
2)make polyphonic copies of those patches, that's easy, right?
3)assign all four patches to a combination.
4)in the insert FX section, pick a compressor for IFX1 AND IFX3
5)route the monophonic patches to FX1, polyphonic ones to IFX3
6)open FX1 tab, the first compressor - assign output to 0, it's source to slider and amount to +40
7)open FX3 tab, assign output to 40, source to slider and amount to -40 or less
8)add a preferred effect for slots 2 and 4, make sure they're identical. Add Master FX.

Now, when you're playing, the slider will change your lead from polyphonic to monophonic and vice versa very smoothly, giving you loads more tools and room for expression in your solo.

I've been busy lately so I haven't tried a way to achieve this in any other way (i.e. proper programming). I suppose it could be done with amp level mod. or controllers assigned to volume... let me know if you find a solution that works.

-Kai

[Kirby]

I really love sync sounds!

A tip from me: Try to give the syncing oscilator a pitch envelope, this will make some cool effects, maybe you know the JM Jarre track "Laser Harp", where this technique is used.

[Michael Troy]

I came up with one that works quite well for me. I have, on one of my leads, key pressure (aftertouch) assigned to an up-bend of about a quarter-tone. That way, I can get vibrato just by pressing the key harder and softer, so it's a much more similar action to that of a guitar... and I don't need to take my other hand off another board to go for the pitch or mod wheels :)

Martin

Kick ass dude! Im gonna try that right now!

[San_Sabastian]

if theres any triton extreme users out there all i can say is dont take that valve for granted, it just sounds to lush, also for anyone useing another syth useing your keyuboard through a valve can sound a hell of alot sweeter if u get it right

[The_Screaming_Head]

hi can anyone tell me the term or something like that for how many sounds you can get at one time when you press a key. like...when JR plays In The Name Of God. he has strings, choir, timpanis and stuff. i want to know what kind of a spec that is when buying a keyboard. thanx. from the super noob :biggrin:

[Luca_Capozzi]

you have to check the multitimbrality of the board you want.. how many parts you can stack together. Usually, you will see "## parts multitimbral" on a workstation specs, where ## are a number of "parts" (single programs).

Cheers,
Luca

[gusjdt]

I'm still very confused with the sync technique. I own a K2600xs, and I cant figure out how to make that sync growl characteristic Tusker mentions. I read the articles Tusker presented, but they barely made sense to me. Perhaps someone could explain for the kurz?

Edit: Forgot to mention... Thanks for your efforts in these tips, Tusker! Great stuff!

[Luca_Capozzi]

sync stuff is very different to achive with VAST compared to virtual analog or real analog devices. You need to use one of last algorithms which have Sync Master (SYNCM) and Sync Slave (SYNCS) blocks.

Luca

[gusjdt]

Yup, I figured that part out, but I have no idea how they're supposed to be used. I guess you detune the pitch and assign LFO to modulate the pitch in semi tones?

[Grinlord]

Like Martin, I have been doing manual vibrato for a while now. However, I have it set to a semitone. I also use it for pitch bends and sliding into a note. Very fluid.

The lead tone I have is a double layer:
1) soft, sine based patch through an external delay processor, than back into the module for guitar amp sim distortion, and chorus.

2)classic DX7 lead tone with the same chorus.

Pitch wheel set to an octave each way for crazy dives and bends. Great for dropping out of the end of a phrase, especially with all that delay.

Mod wheel for a solo boost, increases volume of both layers, but layer 2 more so.

I use a Yamaha MU100R with the DX7 plugin board. A real DX7 inside my module! With it, is a Fatar Studiologic SL1100 piano action, full range controller.

[Boris]

DONT try this on your monitor/speakersystem or you might blow your speakers if youre doing it the wrong way. Dont put up the resonance too high. Test with headphones first.


I could probably do with a new set of monitors anyway, however, not sure I could afford a new set of eardrums....


Interesting tip though, thanks!!!


I personally like running a pad through a guitar amp with distortion. If you have Amplitube VST try running a pad though the "Steve Vai" or "Straiani" perset.

Cheers!

[Dixie]

One thing that I've found that makes saw-square type leads a bit more exciting is to control the detuning of the oscillators with negative pitch bend. This can help to create "fat" guitar-like bends, but like most aspects of good leads, it's usually better to keep it subtle.

[pavook]

still using the MASSIVE casio 'synth' engine disables me from creating my dream lead sound, but i achieved a good one by layering a smooth saw bass patch transposed up an octave and an attack sqare patch (a very quick one). then i set the attack and release of both of them to minimum, ran it through the high level of distortion, and assigned my mod wheel to control the gain of the distortion in a range from 70 to 100 procent, to be able to do some small nuances in the sound.

it sounds close to the jens lead.

It is not a very good lead, but it does the trick until i get my triton extreme.

[jenius_92000]

I came up with one that works quite well for me. I have, on one of my leads, key pressure (aftertouch) assigned to an up-bend of about a quarter-tone. That way, I can get vibrato just by pressing the key harder and softer, so it's a much more similar action to that of a guitar... and I don't need to take my other hand off another board to go for the pitch or mod wheels :)

Martin

Which keyboard do you use? (I don't know if mine supports aftertouch, or sending aftertouch midi data)

[lebabski]

uhh, guess i'll post mine too..hehe..
I have an EX-5, so there's a lot of synthesis that can be done..It took me a very long time to create my lead sound, and almost every time i practice, i change something here, tweak something there, and so on.

I use 4 elements as the basis, with one element as analog. I also use a combination of saw, triangle, and square waves on the different oscillators and filters. For effects, i use a compressor and a symphonic effect (to make the sound "big"). I tried using distortion effects, but it sounded to "guitarish" for me. Like one of the earlier posts, i wanted a big ballsy sound but not like a guitar.

[klavijaturista]

My lead tone on Korg TR:
Pulse-33%
Saw-MG3
OverDrive Guitar
and Ramp, for feedback effect
Joy: +X +2 semitones -X -12 semitones +Y brings in feedback (octave higher) -Y wahwah effect
Aftertouch brings in feedback (5th)
Played very hard bring another timbre with OverDive Guitar (Octave lower)
IFX: OD/HIGain Wah, overdrive setting, with full drive, wet, wah controlled wia JS-Y
MFX: ST.Flanger and ST.MltTap Dly, Flanger wet, controlled with knob 3, Delay 30:70 can be turned up with knob 4
Knob 1 turns down the timbre with velocity-induced overdrive guitar, sometimes i go Hulk while playing, and loose feeling for velocity...
Knob 2 turns down the timbre with aftertouch-induced feedback, same reason...

Basicly made following Luca's recepie, (tnx Luca!), tweaked here and there...

Its a great lead sound for me, i love it.
I will try to record something

[jenius_92000]

My lead tone on Korg TR:
Pulse-33%
Saw-MG3
OverDrive Guitar
and Ramp, for feedback effect
Joy: +X +2 semitones -X -12 semitones +Y brings in feedback (octave higher) -Y wahwah effect
Aftertouch brings in feedback (5th)
Played very hard bring another timbre with OverDive Guitar (Octave lower)
IFX: OD/HIGain Wah, overdrive setting, with full drive, wet, wah controlled wia JS-Y
MFX: ST.Flanger and ST.MltTap Dly, Flanger wet, controlled with knob 3, Delay 30:70 can be turned up with knob 4
Knob 1 turns down the timbre with velocity-induced overdrive guitar, sometimes i go Hulk while playing, and loose feeling for velocity...
Knob 2 turns down the timbre with aftertouch-induced feedback, same reason...

Basicly made following Luca's recepie, (tnx Luca!), tweaked here and there...

Its a great lead sound for me, i love it.
I will try to record something

Woah, that looks awesome! I look forward to hearing it. :)

[klavijaturista]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix_gzXI8-N8&feature=channel_page
you can hear the lead here, also you can check out my custom keytar :)

[mmichaelc]

That lead sounds awesome! And the keytar is looking good too.

[hirszuPL]

Hi guys,
when you are creating a lead, do you use built in preset sounds, or create completely new ones and then combine them?

[The Hunter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix_gzXI8-N8&feature=channel_page
you can hear the lead here, also you can check out my custom keytar :)

May I ask how you created the sound used in the into? It sounds almost like some phased sync sound. I love it.

[Annagyijjk]

It was terrific writing and advise. I can not remember who wrote it.
Someone very intelligent, that is for SURE

[12Stones]

That was cool. Thanks for sharing some ideas. I really love this forum. Lots of things to learn. More Power!