Fat sounds

[mc doodle]

I have an R3 And want to get some Fat Sounds out of it ,does anybody have any advice on the best way to do this , like sound synthesis advice .
I am just using trial and error at the moment and getting so far , i realise what this machine is capable of , but i just have to get in to a way of working with it .

[ahuramusic]

i dont own a r3 but if i was going to make some fat sounds what i would do is layer many different sounds together. change their filter types for each layer of sound so you dont get 1 bland area of sound, and maybe throw a filter into an lfo and slightly detune some of your sounds, maybe add a chorus effect, and some delay. also you can EQ your sounds too. just try making 1 decent patch, and then take that sound and make another good one, and tweak them till they sound right and mash em together so your sound is fuller and more intresting. what i like to do is open up a sample of a nice synth ied like to emulate, and keep playing it and then try to recreate it, you have to have good ears tho, esp listening for all the different sounds used in the sample. just keep experimenting. making sounds is like making music, you have no idea what your doing at first, so you just play around until you get something you like, and then you just keep tweaking the sound until you have somehting your happy with.

[Timo]

I have a Radias, but I guess the techniques and features would be similar.

My tips would be to pay attention to the filter and amplifier EGs, particularly the attacks and releases. For pads and stuff I tend to open my amplifier attack at a slightly faster rate than the filter attack, so you can really hear that filter opening up. Same with the releases: I let the amp release take slightly longer than the filter release so you can hear the filter closing down. Adds more dynamic to the sound, especially if you've set the filter and amp to be modulated by velocity. I tend to add a little room reverb too, and you can hear all the filters happening a bit better.

Layering, duplicating and transposing, detuning, unison are always par for the course.

I've also found that the Drive (filter overdrive) parameter has a particular bite point. Add too much drive and it just flattens the sound. Depending on the patch, there's a particular point - a sweet-spot - where you slowly increase the drive and the harmonics suddenly appear emphasized/enhanced, just prior to over-saturating and flattening the sound. That's when it's time to dial it back a touch.

Adding subtle distortion (overdrive, tube emulation, etc.) can also have a nice effect, splitting the overall timbre and adding a growl to the lower frequencies. Compression can add punch.