Need help with a synth sound: techno
Hey all
Have been trying to get to something like the bass synth in this
Have been experimenting with Moog type bass sounds. It’s also a bit acid / 303. Was wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of sound and can point me in the right direction construction wise.
What sort of waves are involved, that kind of thing. Without starting a VST debate (as I expect it’s analogue in the original anyway) - is there a particular one I should be looking at?
Thanks
Sounds like daft punk slowed down…
I would use a 303 vst as one layer, ABL2 or similar…
And a moog-y sub and mid layer 
A lot of what you’re going for as to do with the ADSR on the Amp and Filter from what I’m guessing
Triangle or Square waves and filter modulation. Any subtractive synth can do it. You’ll probably get the best sound from a moog or a 303, but they’re expensive.
The big advantage of the 303 (and its clones) is its sequencer…which is really kinda cool. It changes the way things end up working together and can’t completely be emulated…though it’s possible to get really close. Try out technobox2 for iphone/ipad if you want something cheap to see what I’m talking about. Based on my experience with that, I’d buy ABL2 in a heartbeat (they’re made by the same people) if I felt like spending money on soft synths.
Thanks for the responses - great info.
I’ve been playing around with ADSR on filter so will keep experimenting with that on triangle and square waves. I’ll have a look at ABL2 - had a flick round on the internet had not sure how to change the ADSR of the filter - but I haven’t played around with it yet
I’m thinking I’ll throw a sine wave under it for sub
Read about the synth. It works like a 303, so it doesn’t have a normal ADSR envelope. IIRC, you do it with the env mod and accent controls. And there’s a switch to have the attack modulate the filter up or down.
303s were weird. That’s why they sounded like they did. But most of it was just hiding a normal subtractive synth engine behind some strangely labeled knobs.
For like $5, the technobox2 app works well…program a sequence and record it. Just like you would with a normal 303. You’re slightly limited by apple’s consumer level converters……but, well that’s what you get for $5 and a computer you might have sitting in your pocket…and they’re not that bad compared to what the original 303s were probably recorded into.
I remember at some point a story about one of the big original house songs (think Marshall Jefferson era) was recorded onto a home tape recorder. When they took it to the next stage (A&R rep, mastering engineer, pressing plant…I forget the details) they copied it straight onto a DAT so they wouldn’t look like a bunch of idiots who didn’t know what they were doing……and their tape player ran fast, so the song came out at like 122 when it was meant to be like 115…hence, and accidentally set the standard tempo for house for 10 years faster than they’d wanted.
Say what you will about tape, but that saturation/compression/distortion sound wasn’t really there for $300 at sears.
Want something better? Cough up for ABL2 or one of the other 303 clones. If you have a licensed copy of Reason, you get one in ReBirth that you can download off the website. Logic also comes with one, it’s just missing the sequencer and fugly…like all of Logic’s synths.
Thanks for the ADSR follow up - expect that’s why I couldn’t see anything on the surface about using it to modulate the filter.
And that’s pretty cool about the speedy tape player. Always good to remember often what have now become heavenly retro instruments had very humble beginnings
There was a BBC documentary at some point called Pump Up the Volume. I think it’s available on youtube. Definitely worth a watch.
Come to think of it, I think that’s where I heard that story. I wish I knew where to buy a DVD of it……definitely worth the money if anyone actually involved in making it gets paid royalties.
