Check out the synth I just finished building!

11 Replies, 5659 Views

[Audio links below]

I've made stuff like this before but on a really basic level. This is the first synth which I can get "proper" results from.

Specifications:

Oscillators - Each one is tuned to C but detuned very slightly so the more of them you turn on, the richer the resulting sound is. Each one has an on/off button and a volume knob. There is one big button which will play all oscillators which are turned on simultaneously. It is the only "key" on the "keyboard" and, as a result, the whole synth can only play the note "C".
12 Sine Wave Oscillators
12 Sawtooth Wave Oscillators
12 Square Wave Oscillators
Volume knobs: +/- 16dB

Filters:
Low-Pass Filter Only
Cutoff Knob - 25KHz - 15Hz
Resonance Knob - Not sure about this. It goes from "quite a lot" to "seriously harsh".

Amplitude Envelope:
Attack and Release only - so the sound stays at the same level from the end of the attack to the start of the release point.
Attack - 0.05ms - 6.55s
Decay - Fixed on 100%
Sustain - Fixed on 100%
Release - 0.05ms - 33.15s

Filter Envelope:
Attack - (Same as Amplitude Envelope)
Decay - 0.05ms - 6.55s
Sustain - 0.05ms - 6.55s
Release - (Same as Amplitude Envelope)

Noise Floor: Fluctuates randomly from -80dB to -90dB. Averages -84dB

Oscs/Ext. In ----> Amp Env ----> Filters ----> Computer

As mentioned above, the synth only has 1 note - C - so you'll have to pitch the result around to get other notes. There is an "external input" on the filters so that you can record a note without any filtering, make a chord within a computer programme by re-pitching and feed the result through the filters to give the impression that the synth can play more than one note at a time, to avoid the problem of any filter sweeps being mis-aligned when re-pitching occurs. In the zip file, the 3 chords you hear are created by this "sampling/re-pitching/external input" method. The second chord has also gone through a flanger & phaser I made:

Chord 2: Computer ----> Ext. In ----> Amp Env Bypassed (attack: 0 release: 0) ----> Filters ----> Flanger ----> Phaser ----> Computer

Chord 3 resamples chord 2 and this time it's going through the flanger and phaser on different settings (to make the sound more complex/interesting) and a stereo phaser I also made:

Chord 3: Chord 2 (repitched over 4 octaves) ----> Ext. In ----> Amp Env Bypassed (attack: 0 release: 0) ----> Filters ----> Flanger ----> Phaser ----> Stereo Phaser ----> Computer

Chord 4: Note repitched to make chord ----> Ext. In ----> Amp Env ----> Filters ----> Guitar Chorus FX Pedal ----> Stereo Phaser ----> Computer

I only spent 20 minutes making these samples so i'm sure if I were to spend longer & also use VST effects and stuff, I could get some better results.

Photos Coming soon!

Audio Zip File (wavs - 9.79MB): http://www.filefactory.com/file/251b61/
Audio Zip File (320 kilobits/sec mp3s - 1.79MB): http://www.filefactory.com/file/a5588d/

Let us know what you think!
PICS OR STFU
titanium Wrote:PICS OR STFU

Pics coming soon!

Don't have a camera and every time I try to capture photos from my video camera, it doesn't work!
[Insert signature here]
cool!

sounds great!

*edit* you made it from scratch!

where do you begin? Icon_eek
sounds pretty good! really like the shimmering pad chords, nice harmonics and movement and filter sounds smooth too....

you bastard
Smile
titanium Wrote:PICS OR STFU

Yeah, get yer pics out for the lads bhima.

Lol
Nice chords.
just make your own oscilloscope then Teef
where are the photos of this mythical mono-toned beast?
bhima Wrote:.

Photos Coming soon!

how soon?? :P
this the badboy?
that's fucking nuts, that horrific looking memorex cassette is the exact same type i used to record the first 'new dawn' show (signal radio, stoke on trent) i ever heard and basically captured the exact 60 mins that made me fall in love with hardcore/the breakbeat sound, PROPERLY Grin Grin Grin

(about the same time all the shelleys tapes were going around 90/91)

still have it under the stairs, badly need to record it digitally as i've been hammering it for 17 years, and it is tape after all...... haha

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