i've been trying to make a very smooth synth, adjusting the attack, velocity, etc. and can't seem to find a solution. sounds i'm getting are too harsh.
i've been trying to make a very smooth synth, adjusting the attack, velocity, etc. and can't seem to find a solution. sounds i'm getting are too harsh.
Comments (15)
would really appreciate any suggestions
use sine waves or a similarly smooth waveform
if you can provide a reference sound we can help
i can't really reference a certain sound. its kind of just a sound in my head that i would like the synth to sound. really i just don't want the notes i play to hit so hard and i'd like the attack and the duration of the note to be smooth. (sorry if this doesn't help) its hard to explain
Sure you can, at least a similar sound so we can get a grasp, we cant read minds heh. 'Soft' sounds typically come from sine waves, with medium attack and release times. Have you tried searching for related terms in the preset library on the synths? youre sure to find something there that you can work off :)
yes, and i have tried but nothing seems to work. maybe idk how some things work but okay. i'll try and find something I can reference
https://www.whosampled.com/Bones/CtrlAltDelete/ i guess something like this.
"Smooth synth" kind of speaks for itself in regards to the attack time...
just make the attack longer on your synth. That will reduce some of the harshness just by itself. Chances are, you probably want the release to be fairly long, too. I would describe something like this as being a pad. Usually these type of sounds come from waveforms with less harmonics, like sine waves (which have none) or triangle waves. Detuning the oscillators by a couple cents is a very good way to give depth to your sound. Additionally, you're going to want to mess around with your filter settings. Pads can actually be made out of just about any type of waveform, and the filter can be used to shave off some of the rough harmonics that come from sawtooth and square waves. Effects also help, especially reverb.
thank you. i will mess around with it
Which synth are you using? Have you tried Space? You can practically get silk out of it.
agreed, even the stock default is lush
i was using the heisenburg
Even with the Heinseberg you can get smooth sounds. I'd start by feeding it long notes or chords and using the simplest waveforms. Then it really depends on what you're going for. A closed LP filter will give you a dark and moody sound. A fairly high HP filter will give you a very thin, ethereal sound. Then consider effects, they often give the character to the sound. A fully wet reverb can sound very good on a high frequency sound, very ghostly. A slight slow phaser can add a sense of unreality to it too. Without an example of what you want is hard to give more precise advice.
i understand, thanks though. this is still helpful
pluck