Need help patching an R3

Yatmandu · Post by **Yatmandu** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:41 pm

I remember seeing a VSTi recently that showed the waveform in an oscilloscope like display. I can't remember which VST it was, but if I do I'll post it here. That would be the simplest way to visualize the waveform as you're creating the sound.

tpantano · Post by **tpantano** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:27 am

Yatmandu wrote:I remember seeing a VSTi recently that showed the waveform in an oscilloscope like display. I can't remember which VST it was, but if I do I'll post it here. That would be the simplest way to visualize the waveform as you're creating the sound.

VSTi used here?
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2008/ ... thesizers/

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/downl ... -exoscope/

It seems nice.
I watched the above tutorial, it seems nice, although I'm still having trouble putting the visual to the sound.

Yatmandu · Post by **Yatmandu** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:14 pm

Wow, this is an excellent tutorial! Much better than what I was thinking, which I think was the new ACE modular VSTi by u-he (sounds amazing).

I think you're finding what you need, and now it's just a matter of practice creating your own patches and messing with all the subtractive synth modules like VCO's, LFO's, envelopes and the like.

tpantano · Post by **tpantano** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:46 am

Alright, I've spent a while working on this sound and need some help.

I've been trying to imitate the beginning of this song for practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J7UPSh2Xxw

So, I started off with a blank patch and set both oscillators to Sines. I mixed them both up and added sync to Osc 2 for a more pronounced sound. However, the sines were pretty dull so I changed Osc 1 to a DWGS wave. I then added some drive waveshaping for a more pronounced sound.

I preceded to work on my volume envelope, leaving cutoff at max. I mixed in a tiny bit of attack to offset the punch from the previously applied portamento. Next, I put in a really long decay but little sustain for a nice fade over time that is present in the song.

I added some finishing touches, such as patching velocity to increase volume level by 15 (so that I can emphasize notes thoroughly). Also, I added in a delay for the echoey effect present in the song (release didnt sound right).

However, I noticed the sound felt incomplete. I duplicated the timbre, but all that did was increase volume. Then, from listening to the song, I got an idea of what was going on. I decided to bring up the first timbre a whole octave, and the second down one.

The final result is what I have uploaded. While it seems to follow the effect of the patch from the song, it appears to be lacking the right timbre, with a harsher tone. I've tried many waves, but none seem to fix the problem.

How do you suggest I fix this patch to better match the song? I'm guessing its a matter of finding the right wave, but you'll likely be able to better see other factors in play here.

Patch:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1715217/StrawberryAvalanche.r3p

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:27 pm

Hi tpantano,

I listened to that intro (hope this is the sound you meant)
I never heard this Owl City before, but seems to be very popular at least in this forum.....

At a first glance (auditive of course) it sounds a little like an organ, with a fast attack and a light delayed LFO. As the R3 has no delay for the LFO you can add it via the mod-wheel. I took your patch, switched to single, changed the DWGS in timbre-1 to an organ, added a little triangle wave and adusted the filtering, osc mod and others a little. Then copied this sound to timbre-2 and lowered it one octave, reduced its volume and put a slight LFO. For the effect I used Mod Delay. Then a switched to layered again

You can download it at the link below and change/adjust it if you want.

http://www.net4ces.de/media/StrawberryAvalanche-1.r3p

tpantano · Post by **tpantano** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:55 pm

axxim wrote:Hi tpantano,

I listened to that intro (hope this is the sound you meant)
I never heard this Owl City before, but seems to be very popular at least in this forum.....

Well, he recently had a hit which got him a lot of fans, #1 on the chart for a while- 'Fireflies'- not my favorite song, but it hit it big. Since I realized that people besides me might actually like his music (I'd listened since back in 07 but most people didn't seem the type to like his music), he inspired me to take up keyboards (along with the fact that my father was a keyboardist and I was sick of being a rhythm only instrument)
He uses a MicroKorg, so a lot of people have been attracted to Korg Synths from him. (that, plus the fact by father used an 800 DV in the day, attracted me to Korg and thus this forum)

His music is mostly synthy with the occasional guitar or piano, so I love it. His actual name is Adam Young; and he has a few bands; I'd suggest taking a listen to 'Owl City - Super Honeymoon' 'Owl City - The Airway' 'Port Blue - Into the Sea' 'Insect Airport - Grape'. All great tunes if you like synthpop and ambient.

Back on topic:

At a first glance (auditive of course) it sounds a little like an organ, with a fast attack and a light delayed LFO. As the R3 has no delay for the LFO you can add it via the mod-wheel. I took your patch, switched to single, changed the DWGS in timbre-1 to an organ, added a little triangle wave and adusted the filtering, osc mod and others a little. Then copied this sound to timbre-2 and lowered it one octave, reduced its volume and put a slight LFO. For the effect I used Mod Delay. Then a switched to layered again

You can download it at the link below and change/adjust it if you want.

http://www.net4ces.de/media/StrawberryAvalanche-1.r3p

Wow! Its perfect! Thank you so much! I just dropped the high EQ a tiny bit, and it was exactly like the original!

I envy your patching skills

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:09 pm

Glad to help!

its only a bit of patience and a bigger bit of experience, which comes with the joy of experimenting with the synths. xmlguy wrote a good resume here. You should take some time to get with one oscillator only, experiment the different waves, tweak the filters and other parameters to hear what they do. Then go with two, use different envelopes to mix them, use both filters and so forth. One day you will have an idea of what are the basic components of a sound you hear.