7
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between "FM synthesis" and "MIDI synthesis"?
There's really no such thing as MIDI Synthesis.
Synthesis is the process by which sounds are 'synthesised' using various modulation and generation techniques.
MIDI is the "Musical Instrument ...
- 8,815
6
votes
Filter to make music sound like it's being played in a mall?
Generally, you want to conceptualize this based on the reality of the situation you are trying to re-create.
Firstly, shopping malls usually have crappy speakers, so imagine your sound being played ...
- 8,815
5
votes
Accepted
Difference between multiple voices and chorus
Voices are separate oscillators, chorus is merely a delay-based effect.
Usually the number of voices in a synth actually refers to the number of oscillator groups. For example, an analog synth with "...
- 2,200
4
votes
What is the "level" of Frequency Modulation of many synthesizers?
FM8 mirrors the DX7 implementation which uses a 0-99 value to represent modulation index of 0 to 14. So, an output level of '85' corresponds to an index of 4.
4
votes
Conflict bass / leads
What you describe sounds like Buss/Master/Group Compression gone wrong.
This effect sometimes appears when you have a compressor set to affect both the bass and the lead (via any of the Buss/Master/...
- 1,529
4
votes
FM and PM synthesis - what is the difference and why?
frequency modulation (FM) is the manipulation of the Hz of a sound or "Operator". Operators generate sound waves at a certain speed (Hz) which dictates the pitch of that specific sound, for example, ...
- 151
4
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to use frequency modulation synthesis to play human voice?
The way to understand this is to break down the terminology. First one to look at is "Modulation" which is the term used to describe the encoding of a "carrier" signal with another "source" signal.
...
- 8,815
4
votes
Stacked detuned voices sound different in Synthmaster compared to Serum
You need to turn on "FREE" (like in this picture). From the manual:
Free: Controls whether the oscillator waveform(s) start at a random phase, similar to free-running analog
synthesizer ...
- 171
4
votes
Technically speaking, can all synths of a given type make identical sounds? Why or why not?
The basic fundamentals are equal on all FM synthesizers. (Not exactly:
most so-called FM synthesizers are Phase Modulation synths, which is strictly different from FM even if related). But different ...
- 627
3
votes
How is this specific sound synthesized?
Try 2 sawtooth oscillators on a mono synth with a small detune (perhaps just 1 cent) on one of the oscillators. Set a smooth but fairly quick attack and release for these oscillators. Send them ...
- 96
3
votes
Accepted
What you need to know to create a software synth?
You need to understand sound sources (oscillators, noise generators, and samples), modulation (LFO in particular), sound shaping (envelopes), and then signal processing (read: math and audio physics). ...
- 146
3
votes
Accepted
Why playing 180 degrees out-of-phase oscillators in Sylenth1 doesn't result in silence?
It's hard to diagnose this type of thing without hands on, but here are a few things to try:
the phase control only works if RETRIG is active (in both OSCs, for what you want)
same number of voices ...
- 721
3
votes
How to reproduce this sound
Essentially, it is very simple. I don't have FL Studio but I can point out a few things about the timbre, after analyzing a clean sample:
Since both even and odd harmonics of the wave are present and ...
- 475
3
votes
Accepted
Oldschool house orchestral hit sample
What you are looking for is an orchestral hit / orchestral pad.
Very popular throughout the 80's
Those sounds were mostly created using the Fairlight CMI.
I think ...
- 1,529
3
votes
What is a "forlorn"?
No, it isn't. Forlorn is a feeling. As a sound designer, you may need a sound which evokes a particular feeling. If Hans thinks that sound has a forlorn feeling, then he can name it what he likes. ...
- 530
2
votes
N.I. Massive assign Pitch Bend Wheel to Macro
I use Ableton - Live and I can automatize the pitchbend parameter of Massive.
Go to Massive's osc tab (where is the glide and the vibrato), there is a pitchbend section where you can adjust the Up ...
- 21
2
votes
How to make this duck-sounding synth?
That sound is not very complex...and certainly achievable.
When emulating any synth sound, it will be a lot of trial and error tweaking.
But here are some obvious facts for a starting point.
The ...
- 674
2
votes
Is the sound made with a wavetable or an FM synth?
Subtractive means you just have filters on the synth. Additive means you add oscillators or sound lines. FM means you multiply the frequency of one oscillator by the signal of another.
Wavetable ...
- 198
2
votes
Accepted
Legowelt whistle like lead
Hey so I recreated this with my prophet but sure you could get the same sound in another place:
heres the outcome:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz7u6sri5SdsY0hvQXFFUThGTEk/view?usp=sharing
So I ...
- 300
2
votes
Accepted
Question about synths
Creating cool synths is all a question of :
Expressivity (modulation)
Clarity (mixing)
Context (other sounds in track, lead synth?)
The advice I could give you is to stop touching your synth when it ...
- 1,103
2
votes
How to make this lead!
Nice tracks! Listen closely, the "whiny" aspect may also come from a high tuned oscilator, which is of lower level, as the voice is not very bright overall. Looking at the second example mainly, try ...
- 475
2
votes
Are there free records of separate piano notes in .wav files for instance?
I think this might help https://archive.org/details/SynthesizedPianoNotes
You can search in archive.org for more
- 21
2
votes
What synths and pads are those, and where to find?
The question of "what library do they come from" is nearly impossible to answer, since there are thousands of libraries out there and many of them overlap sonically.
I can't tell you every detail ...
- 370
2
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between pad and drone?
On a synth, they're pretty much the same thing, depending on how you play it.
They're both relatively constant, maintaining a sound bed underneath your melodic & rhythmic structure. They don't ...
- 8,405
2
votes
I've learnt how to use an advanced synth, but don't know how to make advanced sounds
I think you are asking a broad question, so I can give answers from a few different angles.
Firstly, to make better and more unique sounds, keep practicing and experimenting.
To dig deeper, ask ...
- 475
2
votes
Accepted
How can I recreate Grant's signature sound using a vocoder on a synthesizer?
For me it sounds like he's applying FL Studio's Vocodex plugin. Although I'm not a specialist using this I know that you can do some insane stuff with it utilizing a "carry"-layer and a sound-layer so ...
- 206
2
votes
Guitar with a Synth sound and chunky palm muting
This IS a guitar but several other things are contributing to this sound.
The guitar has been double-tracked. The guitar part has physically been played twice (not copy-pasted) and each version has ...
- 839
2
votes
Accepted
Why does a square wave make a sound?
Every wave is a superposition of multiple sine waves – this is essentially what Fourier theorem says.
This article demonstrates how by summing a sine wave with its odd harmonics (thus wave with ...
- 202
2
votes
How to procedurally generate basic percussive sounds (e.g. metronome like clicks)?
I'm not familiar with electronic metronomes, but from the world of modular synthesizers, here are a couple of popular basic ingredients for synthesizing percussive sounds:
Use an attack-decay ...
- 360
2
votes
How to procedurally generate basic percussive sounds (e.g. metronome like clicks)?
Percussive sounds usually don't have harmonics, their texture is produced by frequencies which aren't multiples of each other. Let me explain. Say you have a sine wave at 440 hz which is decaying ...
- 21
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