First oscillators...

If our ear picks up a certain frequency it is a sine wave (the note produced by
a pitch fork) of that frequency that it picks up. The larger the amplitude of th
e sine wave, the louder the perceived frequency.
In the oscillator section of a synthesiser, there are 2 main types of choices. P
itched notes and noise.
White noise is effectively equal amplitudes all sine waves of all frequencies at
once (a crap definition but I don t want to go into maths).
Pitched notes are a repetitive wave oscillating at certain frequency. This is th
e frequency of the lowest sine wave playing (the 1st harmonic). On top of this w
e have a sine wave of twice the frequency (the 2nd harmonic), triple the frequen
cy (the 3rd harmonic) and so on.
The amplitudes of the harmonics vary on the type of wave...
Sine wave - obviously just the 1st harmonic
Sawtooth wave - the amplitude of the nth harmonic is 1/n. This is the fullest so
unding wave.
Square wave - as with the sawtooth but with only odd harmonics (this makes it so
und hollow). Some synths allow you to change the pulse width, making sorter puls
es.
Triangle wave - the amplitude of the nth harmonic is 1/(n^2). Hence the first ha
rmonics are more dominant making it sound more like the sine wave.
Most synths have multiple oscillators that can be mixed together. In doing this
there are 2 main controls for each oscillator...
De-tune - This detunes the pitch of a specific oscillator. It s measure in semiton
es and cents. A semitone is like moving up a fret on the guitar and a cent is 1/
100th of a semitone.
Volume - This is pretty obvious.
Unison (or whatever the same thing is) - Starts the waves at the same time - Use
this for clear sounds.
Heres a couple of examples:
Sometimes for sawtooth basses I ll add another saw (in union) of half the volume a
t +12 semitones (up an octave).
For sawtooth leads i ll generally have 3 oscillators with 2 of them de-tuned low a
nd high by approximately the same amount of cents (around 30). This gives them a
warmer sound.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Next thing - filters and equalisers.
These both work by boosting and cutting certain frequencies.
Low pass filters allow frequencies lower than the cutoff to pass (i.e. cut all f
requencies higher than the cutoff - the higher the number of poles, the more the
y are cut). The more resonance then the more the frequency is boosted around the
cutoff point.
High pass filters do the opposite.
Band pass filters allow a narrow band of frequencies to pass.
A parametric equaliser boosts or cuts (gain control) around a frequency of your
choice. The Q control is the width of the boost or cut in the frequency spectrum
.
A few tips...
These are important for mixing. Each instrument should have its own region of th
e frequency spectrum to sit in. If 2 instruments playing simultaneously occupy the
same range of frequencies then they will sound messy. People use parametric equ
alisers to do precisely this - boost the areas where you want it to sit in, cut
where you don t. I work from the bass up (and hats down) and make sure I have a hi
gh pass filter if it s interfering with the layer below it (or visa versa). I.e rather than making a sound and thinking - that s cool - lets add it in and then crea
ting a riff for it, I create the riff and make the sound around what I ve already
got. Hence, I don t tend to use eq so much as of yet.

Getting more of the lower frequencies of the sound gives a smoother texture, whe
reas more of the higher frequencies sounds scratchy. The lower the note, the mor
e this scratch turns into a tear. Often, sections of my leads will be placed aro
und C0 (very bass) with a high pass filter, creating that ripping lead sound. Ra
ising the low pass filter on a bass will add some of this rip, making it sound m
ore grimey.
--------------------------------------------------------Next, envelopes and LFOs...
These both vary the controls automatically. A perfect synth will have the capabi
lity of every control in it being varied by these (I want reaktor!!!). I.e. they
can control volume, filter cutoff etc.
LFO stands for low frequency oscillator and it will vary the control depending o
n the current level of its signal. You can control frequency and phase (when the
sine wave starts), oscillator type (waveform) and how much it varies the contro
l.
The standard (and simplest) envelope is the ADSR envelopes. It varies the contro
l like this:
From when the note starts, it takes the time of the attack to reach its peak. Th
en, it takes the time of the decay to reach the sustain point. After the note ha
s ended it takes the time of the release to drop back. Clearly you must have an en
velope for volume.
So say we wanna create a lead which rips down through our track. Make its freque
ncy very low. Then put a high pass filter on it. Make your envelope heavily affe
ct the cutoff, then set zero attack, long decay and low sustain. The lower frequ
encies will now gradually drop in.
Also, sometimes (especially with a low sine wave - if you re making a kick), oscil
lators make a pop sound when coming in and out. To rectify this add a little att
ack and release on the volume envelope (not to much attack if you wanna make a k
ick sound though because you wanna keep a bit of pop).
And for percussive sounds, a short decay with little sustain.
Some pecussive sounds and basses want an envelope on frequency with short decay
and even shorter attack if any. This makes them bounce.
---------------------------------------------------------------Reverb and pan...
Stereo systems can t imitate a three dimensional stage - Thats a load of crap (espec
ially if your on acid!).
OK - so they can t make sounds come from behind you (without reflecting off a wall
) but imagine a room...
Those sounds upfront will have less reverb whilst those far back will.
For left-right posistion clearly use pan (set it to an envelope for leads which
sweep across the soundstage).
Don t use reverb on the bass - that wants to be up front.
Don t use much on hats and snares - between 1 and 2 seconds I normally use.
For big lead riffs use lots - 7 seconds or more makes it sound really impressive
.
Oh and reverb should really be the last effect in the series.
---------------------------------------------------------------Compression...
This automatically decreases the volume of the signal depending on the volume of
either itself or another signal called the sidechain. (From now on I ll refer to
the signal causing the compression as the sidechain even if there isn t one).
When the compressor has kicked in, the amount of the signal above the threshold
is reduced by the ratio (i.e. say your threshold is 7db, and the ratio is 3:1. A
10db signal will then be 8db.)
The attack is the time taken for the compressor to kick in and the release is th
e time taken for the signal to be released from the copressor.
The knee is how smoothly the compressor kicks in - soft knee is smoother than ha
rd knee.

Compressing basses will give them punch. Compressing white noise will give a sna
re sound (with high ratio and low threshold). Compressing your track (high thres
hold, low ratio) will bring out quieter bits - this is part of mastering.
Sidechain a kick to a compressor on a bass or reverb on anything to bring it out
.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Chorus...
This is basically many copies of a note playing at slightly different pitches crea
ting a warmer/fatter sound. There are 2 ways this is done...
A chorus effect makes copies of the signal and increases and decreases delay on
them - this stretchs and squashes the sound, changing the pitch up and down (rat
e can be controlled). It then mixes them together creating the effect.
On polyphonic synths, if one note is being played on the synth at one time (most
times this is true), you can set it to monophonic. You can then set the number
of voices to the synth creating a chorus effect (1 voice for no chorus). Set it
to unison which starts the oscillators at the same time for a fatter sound.
The 2 methods sound different since the pitches of the different voices are fixe
d on the later. The 1st is more pad sounding, the second is fatter.
I wouldn t use this on basses, but for fat lead sounds and pads (haven t as of yet t
hough - only just realised to turn my synth to monophonic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Phaser and Flanger...
This both work by taking the signal, putting different frequencies out of phase
differently and mixing it back into the signal. The signals interfere with each
other, creating dips and reinforcements in the frequency spectrum.
Flangers send the signal out of phase by giving a delay, phasers with an all pas
s filter.
The number of filters in the phaser (order) is twice the number of dips in the s
pectrum.
They are controlled by LFOs. For instance, for the flanger, this controls the am
ount of delay in the interfering signal.
A mix control gives the intensity (50:50 the most - most interference that way).
As you said flangers make jet-plane noises (also makes those rip sounds sound mo
re like a strumming distorted electric guitar) whilst phasers can make anything
from creepy psy-sounds to really character-full basses (depending on how you use
the rest of the synth/effects).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Frequency shifters shift the frequency of the harmonics by a fixed amounts sendi
ng them out of sync . Use and LFO on that and the amplitude simultaneously, get it
at the right frequency and it will sound like your lead is talking to you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------I ve tried to include some of the different ways to make certain specific sounds.
The best way is to play about with it and find them. But anyway - I ll give you a
list of how I make some important percussive sounds (most leads basses I can t des
cribe with words that well (at least what they sound like - there are endless po
ssibilities).
These are just starting points for these sounds. There s no perfect kick for instanc
e. Fiddle with all the controls to find the sound you want in your mix. Also, fo
r example, there s no clear cut boundary between a kick and a bass - often I ll make
things in between.
Kick:
Sine Wave (but adding slight amount of others will give some texture).
Slight attack and release on amp envelope to avoid too much pop . Fast decay and lo
w sustain for a percussive sound.
Put an envelope, increasing pitch with zero attack, short decay and no sustain.

Put a low pass filter, parametric eq and compressor on it and play with the cont
rols.
Although the pitch isn t that clear, (and isn t changed in rock/jazz etc.), Making i
t the note of the key your in makes the mix (of low pitch - around C0-C1 region)
sound more together (don t vary it throughout like I did the other day - on secon
d thoughts it gives it less drive).
Layer it with a snare (see below) if you want some snare-sound with it.
Percussive, metallic bass (dominant in mix - stereotypical psytrance bass): Just
found this out by accident in the last loop I made (a psy-breaks loop - sounds
awesome!)
Saw wave, (possibly with another up an octave).
Short attack and release (just to avoid any pop) and full sustain on amp envelop
e.
Low pass filter (for bass) and high pass filter (but not to high - just shave of
f the very low harmonics).
Phaser with no LFO attached (or with zero rate on LFO). Play with the phase and
the mix for the right sound.
Compressor gives it the Percussive sound. Soft knee is nicer sounding I think. P
lay with the other controls for best sound (as with everything).
You ll probably come up with loads of other bass sounds whilst trying to make this
. Play with filter envelopes (whilst having less or no compression) and you ll com
e up with loads.
Snare:
White noise.
Zero attack on amp envelope. Play with the decay and sustain after you ve put the
compressor on.
Compressor on with high ratio and low threshold.
Filter for your sound.
Hat:
White noise or white noise with a bit some triangle wave (in this case use high
pitch).
No attack, short decay and low-no sustain on amp envelope.
High pass filter up quite high.
Play with the above controls (and apply low pass filters sometimes) to make all
manner of percussive sounds like clicks, ride cymbals etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Last but not least...
Playing the same layer throughout on a riff sounds unexpressive. For different n
otes use different layers (if they occupy the same frequency spectrum they sound
like the same instrument).