

If you’re using a synth with copious waveforms, go through the list to see if there are any waveforms that are dirty all by themselves. These can be tricky to program, but can yield some nice aggressive results.
#Syntorial kickass mod
Sync will give you a “grinding” tone, while ring mod and FM can create edgy metallic tones. Hard sync, ring modulation, and FM can all be programmed to create some nasty tones. Different from distortion, use noise to overlay some TV-static wash on your sound.
#Syntorial kickass Patch
Sometimes just a touch can give you some subtle edge that takes your patch from squeaky clean to slightly mischievous.

Whichever way you choose, remember that a little goes a long way. This can sometimes produce nicer results since the distortion is being applied before all of the modulation stuff, thus resulting in a more consistent drive. But your synth also may have the option of allowing you to overdrive your filter. This is usually achieved with a distortion, overdrive or amp simulator effect. The most common way to add some grit to your sound is with distortion. Also, the more oscillators you use, the bigger and thicker (and swirlier) the result. This usually sounds nice but it may be a side effect that you didn’t intend to create. But keep in mind, it will also add a pulsating effect.

Taking two or more identical oscillators (same waveforms and pitch) and slightly detuning them away from each other is a classic tried-and-true way of adding some thickness to your sound. Vice versa if your cutoff is low, then resonance will peak your lows or low-mids and beef up your sound a bit. Increasing the resonance with higher cutoff values will have a narrowing and thinning effect on your sound. This one’s tricky because it’s effect on your sound’s thickness depends on your low pass filter’s cutoff. If you have more waveforms to choose from in your synth besides the standard saw/pulse/triangle/sine, begin dialing through them listening to the different thicknesses they each have until you find the one that gives you the girth you’re looking for. Square will give you the fullest sound, but as you begin to turn the pulse width away from square it will get thinner. If you’ve chosen a pulse wave as your sound, it’s pulse width control will determine how thick or thin it sounds. Turn it down to make it darker and rounder, turn it up to make it brighter and edgier.
#Syntorial kickass full
If you’ve chosen a bright waveform full of mids and highs, then you’ll be able to use the low pass filter’s cutoff knob to shape it. And you may find you love the tone of a bright waveform, but wish it was rounder. You may be lovin’ that sine wave, but a lot of the other synth’s parameters won’t have much effect on it. One thing to keep in mind though: the bright waveforms give the rest of your synth more to work with. For example, the saw and pulse waves are bright and edgy, while the triangle and sine are darker and rounder. Some are bright and edgy, some are dark and round. If you’re still not sure, the next few items on the checklist will help you decide. So go ahead and dial through the choices until you find one that piques your interest. But nowadays you’ll most likely have a lot of other options. At the very least you’ll probably have pulse, triangle and sine. Your other options will vary widely depending on your synth.

A “traditional” synth sound that’ll work in most situations. The waveform is the raw clay out of which we mold our sound. 12 sonic attributes that will guide you through the murky water of sound-to-patch translation. “Which controls should I tweak to get that sound?”Įnter the Synth Patch Checklist. “What type of sound am I trying to make?”
#Syntorial kickass trial
So how do we prevent ourselves from spiraling down the dark tunnel of trial and error madness? Well, for starters, instead of asking ourselves Overwhelmed are we by these magnificent creatures and their many knobs, buttons, sliders and switches, vying for our attention all at once. It’s a struggle that we synthesists must toil with ’til the end of our days.
