Today's soundtrack is Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow.
I want to delve further into the world of synthesizers. After recreating the Twin Peaks soundtrack with Reaper's built-in synthesizers, I've decided to try to learn more about modular synths. I'm starting with the Caustic "Subsynth" tutorial.
The synth is named "Subsynth" not because it will blast out your subwoofers, but because it is a subtractive synth - meaning you start with a full sound, then sculpt the sound by taking away elements of it.
Oscillators
There are two oscillators in Subsynth. Each one makes sound based on the waveform chosen. Using the "mix" knob, we can choose which one we want to hear more of. We can adjust the octave, semitones, and cents of Oscillator 2 relative to Oscillator 1. If we switch from "cents" to "unison" mode, it will inversely tune Oscillator 1 to our detuning of Oscillator 2, making the average sound more in-tune when compared to other instruments. The "Phase" control determines how much the the oscillators cancel each other out.
Modulation Knob
There are three kinds of modulation we can choose from on Oscillator 1: Frequency Modulation, Phase Modulation, and Amplitude Modulation. Modulation makes Oscillator 2 influence the sound of Oscillator 1.
Bend Tool
By using the "bend" tool, we can set up each note to play from a lower or higher note.
Volume Envelope
Increasing "Attack" will make it take longer for a note to reach full velocity.
"Sustain" sets how long a note will keep playing for if you hold down a note.
If we have sustain set low, "Decay" sets how long you CAN hold that note for before it fades entirely.
Turning up "Release" is like applying a permanent sustain pedal.
Filter
These choose what part of the sound will be cut off. "Cutoff" increases amount of sound cut out; "res" controls the resonance, which adds a filtered noise to the remaining sound after filters.
We use the same kinds of envelopes to control our filter as we use to control our volume: Attack, Sustain, Decay, and Release. There's one new control: "Track," and this one, when increased, makes it so that low "bassy" notes won't be influenced as much by the filter.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO)
We have two LFOs. Modulates the sound on a desired oscillator. It can influence many parts of the sound. LFO2 is locked to a sine wave.
That brings us to the end of this lesson. Next time, I'll be learning about modulation synths!