Make my synth sounding different from other SM-synths

systemicmusic · 23 Dec 2007

Hi.

If you want make your synth sounds like otherthing not like all the regular synth... you need to know something .... THE FILTER MAKE YOUR SOUND !!! all the software and all the dsp make the same waveforms saw at 60Hz in one modular or synth sounds exactlly like anuther one, but what is make the diffrent is the filter.

try to make a new filter your one like couple Peak EQ paralles or routing, with diffrent cutoff for each...

its make the diffrent, if you want example send me a mail...

Dave · 23 Dec 2007

You mean an "invisible" filter beside the normal cutoff/reso filter?

systemicmusic · 23 Dec 2007

I mean that the filter make your sound "color"... If you know "Infected Mushroom" you can here that in there music. All the sound are shaped by the filter and not by the osc... when i be in my studio i make one filter to you that explane that for you.

Dave · 23 Dec 2007

Ok i'll wait for your example 🙂

infuzion · 23 Dec 2007

Welcome to the forum systemicmusic!

Dave, sometimes I pick a synth to use not because it sounds different, but it is easy to use with killer presets.

Dave · 23 Dec 2007

Yeah of course a good synth is nothing without great presets (or patches) esp. for so-called "preset-hoppers".

But if you take 5 different synths and make a basic saw sound with 3 oscs and a little semitone you'll get 5 different results (without using LFO, Filters, Effects a.s.o.!).

Maybe they mix the signals different than in the most SM-synths...

TomC · 23 Dec 2007

Dave wrote: Yeah of course a good synth is nothing without great presets (or patches) esp. for so-called "preset-hoppers".

But if you take 5 different synths and make a basic saw sound with 3 oscs and a little semitone you'll get 5 different results (without using LFO, Filters, Effects a.s.o.!).

Maybe they mix the signals different than in the most SM-synths...

This is not related to SynthMaker only. When you provide a tool like SynthMaker, most people will happily use the tools at hand, that means the included filters/effects/OSCs/whatnot. The possibilities to combine these ready-to-use modules are limited and so are the sounds that'll come out of such a synth.

If you want to sound different you have to build your own effects/filters. The 'Code' module and the 'Link' section of the Wiki are your friends here. I don't now HOW much code I've already written just to get the sound effects I had in mind.

Tom

infuzion · 23 Dec 2007

Dave wrote: But if you take 5 different synths and make a basic saw sound with 3 oscs and a little semitone you'll get 5 different results (without using LFO, Filters, Effects a.s.o.!).

Sort of... SE synths tend to sound the same, but there are like 4 or different coded OSCs available for the SE platform since they have a C++ SDK, & have a longer-larger userbase. Other synths use the basic same maths, but might over sample differently, etc, but many C++/Pascal et al synths do sound alike after a while. That's why I look at the GUI (easy to use), presets, & CPU usage also when synth-hunting.

I think I figured out why SE OSCs sound different last week. I also notice that Reason has a distinct flavor... I have a few guess why, but I often can pick out when Reason was used in a song.

theorize · 24 Dec 2007

i'd like to hear what you've learned about the SE OSCs, I personally like the way they sound. infuzion i agree with you on the GUI potency, that's what got me into SE in the first place, when i was trying to learn synthesis i found that most of the available synths were not at all inviting to someone new to synthesis... kind of strange someone trying to learn synthesis by building synths but that's what it took for me, now i'm gonna kick it up a notch with SM.

infuzion · 24 Dec 2007

theorize wrote: i'd like to hear what you've learned about the SE OSCs, I personally like the way they sound.

Well, if I told you, then everyones' synths would sound like mine 🙂

Tom7777 · 24 Dec 2007

Well, if I told you, then everyones' synths would sound like mine

Exactly you can't expect to have a unique sounding projects if your not willing to make your own work and use everyone else componants/modules, well put 🙂 Best thing is to experiment with modifying the stock modules if you don't want to completely make new ones.

theorize · 24 Dec 2007

lol i'm already using the SE oscs!!! plus it's not that hard in se since there are like a million filters already available for SE, including ones that let you enter in coefficients, i've never used it though because i'm happy with the other ones, although at one time i wanted to take a stab at a 303 fiter but that's been done and done.

theorize · 24 Dec 2007

plus i don't use synthedit anymore (unless i'm on my laptop, and that's just until i install SM on it), i get tired of having folders for every little synth, so i only use SE synths if they are extraordinary so my plug in folder is a little less crowded, but i thinks eXT now hides folders that don't contain a plug in, but i'm waiting to upgrade until more features are in.... that reminds me 😉

systemicmusic · 24 Dec 2007

Hi to all ...

My point is: if you want just to look for good preset soo you don't need modular just download Vsti you have a lot of that on the net with amazing presets.... (Like Nexus, Korg etc....)

And when you open 3 osc and change the semitone you get an armonic sound, its greate thing but i said if you have a special filter not the regular filters (LP,HP,BP,Notch), you can get some special sound

for example: download my fiter from here:

http://download.yousendit.com/599508034C615BB7

its a demo for u guys (sorry about that) so i allowed only 1 filter from my new 3 filter. the selector moving but not change somthing..... 😀

Just open it on a saw signal (without filtering effect, u can use it in wavelab, generate a saw signal and open it on the insert effect)

note me about that if you like the sound....

SystemiC

blueshift · 3 Feb 2008

Hi folks. This is my first post, so I'm gonna do a gut spill. This topic caught my eye, because I just spent quite a while auditioning a lot of synths that people have posted round the net -- I mean a LOT. You guys are right. There is a sameyness (sp?) about them.

Do not blame the lack of oscillator types or filter types, etc. The blame rests squarely with us all not thinking out of the box enough. When Moog introduced the Minimoog, I was heartbroken (yeah, I'm that old, 34 years with synthesizers). No patchability, and the osc->filt->vca structure was burned into everyone's memory cells. This is the worst thing that could have happened to synthesis (but a great thing for rock-and-roll) and I believe it set the state-of-the-art back many years. Every synth was a variation on the same theme. One filter??? Two filters if you're lucky! ?

I could type on this subject forever, but I'll spare you all. Here's the meat. It's the architecture folks, architecture. Everything has to move dynamically to make an evocative synth sound -- the pitch(es), the timbre, etc. And it has to do it in a way that the ear enjoys or at least finds interesting.

Ever modulate pitch with a reverberated sound? Ever change the patch dynamically on a note count basis? Shouldn't velocity be used for more than just brightness or loudness? Feedback isn't just for microphones.

Blaming a lack of modules is in some small way, an excuse. A brand new book can still be written using the same 26 letters everyone else uses. If you are relying on some different kind of oscillator or filter to give you what you want, then your design is probably lacking in some other way. The devil is in the details, the fine details, and he'll always be there.

This post is in no way meant to be insulting to anyone's efforts. It was just meant to inspire. Even though I have been designing and building analog and digital synthesizers for many years, I am a beginner to SynthMaker and hope to hold myself to the same ridiculous standard. Good luck to us all.

Andrew J · 4 Feb 2008

Welcome to the forum blueshift - that's what I call a worthwhile first post.

What I love about SM is that it can let us build new things so quickly and easily. I'm not into synths, I'm much more into audio processing - and the possibilities are just fantastic.

Enough gushing...

mdk · 4 Feb 2008

thats some good points blueshift.

really the beauty of modular stuff is the open architecture, start mixing up all the different stuff, FM (both normal frequency and phase mod), feedback, cross modulation. stick waveshapers and filters in those modulation / feedback paths. use samples as oscillators..etc..etc..

in some ways the real art of building is to find the sweet spots in the parameter space and present those to the user. make the complexity manageable.

not that im any good at that, i always get carried away wanting to modulate everything 🙂

electrogear · 10 Feb 2008

Hello and welcome 😀 (I think I can say that can I? I've been here long enough now... :P). The main reason a lot of SM synths sound the same are due to overuse of the standard modules (that is, the ones that come ready made with SM).

I think there are an awful lot of amateurs (like me) and learners (again like me) who put a basic setup together without tweaking or adapting any components, let alone building their own from scratch. People need inspiration, coupled with enthusiasm to learn - and maybe not a lot of people have that?

Your post has inspired me a little, and also got me wondering - how can you modulate pitch with a reverberated sound? I'm confussled (doesn't take much!?)

I love making MIDI stuff and gadgets - I've not delved very far into the actual synthesis yet but I will do eventually. So much to learn, but I'm finding I'm learning a lot quicker since I quit work & started my degree.