[sdiy] Bass generator synth DIY

[Dave Kendall]

I've got some really heavy bass sounds from a DX7 run through a Mutator VCF.
The mutator is a 4-pole low pass Moog style Ladder filter which has a
reputation for fatness - deservedly so IMO. A good one is a very warm beast
indeed.

The DX7 is capable of some very deep Bass sounds - lots of lovely sine
waves, but it's a b*****d to program!. Some of the newer DX synths were
easier - the DX11 has a quick edit function which makes it less daunting,
and although it's only a 4 operator synth, that's plenty for Bass. Besides,
it has more than just sine waves in there.
The DX synths were capable of very fast attack, giving a click at the start
of the sound that not everyone likes. Easy enough to remove - on a DX7, back
off the attack from 99 (max) to about 93 - 94 on the EG attack (rate1) of
carrier operators. This removes the click at the start.
 
A neat trick is to look at the algorithm, and if there is a spare carrier
operator, set it to the  fundamental frequency, and give it the same
envelope as the main carrier operators. Then slowly bring the volume up. You
will be adding in a pure sine tone that's perfectly in sync with the main
sound. It warms things up considerably. Check that there are no tuning
differences between the sine and the main carrier operator(s).

It's often a good idea to set negative volume tracking on the sine i.e. as
the pitch gets higher, the sine wave attenuates, so that it doesn't intrude
into the sound as the pitch gets higher.
BTW, the sine wave trick works very well with other synths too - several of
my K2000 patches have a low level sine mixed into the lower keyboard ranges.

Didn't mean to write all that, I guess it's just nostalgia for the old
faithful DX......

:-)

cheers,

Dave



on 15/1/06 13:05, Seb Francis at seb at burnit.co.uk wrote:

> First I have to say that the TB303 is capable of the most heavy powerful
> bass sounds with the resonance turned right down to minimum.  But I
> think for dub/reggae you are probably looking for something that has
> more of a bass guitar sound (rather than a square wave or saw wav sound
> that you will get from a 303).
> 
> Try a synth that has triangle waves, or maybe even something digital
> like an FM synth.  If the triangle/digital/FM bass sounds too clean then
> try adding a touch of distortion to add some more higher harmonics.
> 
> Seb
> 
> 
> 
> Philippe Schelté wrote:
> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> I have a TB303, it is good for acid or high and mid tone analogue synth
>> effects but not suitable to generate fat, deep and powerfull bass sounds
>> (ie what we use in Reggae/Dub music). Could you suggest me, if it exists,
>> a synth DIY project would could answer to my needs ?
>> 
>> Best regards.
>> 
>> Philippe aka Dubphil
>> 
>> ***
>> http://dubphil.free.fr
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>