Bass Synth Help Needed

A

Alex Kerezy

Inspired
Hi,
I am trying to get some vintage bass synth sounds - and well, it's not going well.

I am playing an electric violin with octave strings which are an octave lower than normal violin strings. So an A 440 Hz is actually 220 Hz..............the instrument with these strings is something that has a lower sound, almost like a cello. I actually call it a "chin cello"

I've added a synth block to my generic "cello" patch -- but I'm not getting any nice/rich synth sounds. In the mp3 sample below - I have the sound that I'm after. It's from a Moog. It's a true old skewl bass synth



H E L P!!!

Synthless in Seattle

SynthLess.png
 
The Axe III is a great guitar modeler and effects processor but it’s not a great synth.

For $299 you can get a Behringer Model D which is a fantastic true analog MiniMoog clone, sounds fantastic, really fun to play with, and it’s a natural at doing those Moog style bass parts. Patch it into the Axe for further effects processing while your at it. Worth every penny and then some.

You can do synth string sounds but they don’t come close to your violin, and trying to get a violin through a guitar processor to do synth bass doesn’t really work either (IMO)

Korg Volca Bass is a pretty cool little analog synth too, or the MiniBrute is really fun and quite musical. Great synth basses. Moog Minotaur is cool for the money too but getting to a higher price point.

The Behringer mini is where it’s at though in my opinion, fantastic recreation of the classic for about 1/8th the price
 
Try a compressor or drive before the synth to get more sustain. Synth first can also work if you want the tonal effect of the sustaining block. The difference will be more obvious with drive than with compressor. Use some noise gating to prevent odd noises when stopping notes.

You might want to use an ADSR set to trigger on every note as described here: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/various-presets-tricks.135770/#post-1607737

The ADSR can then give a consistent filter/volume envelope on most notes with any sort of attack (pluck, hammer, pull-off).

Here's a quick Axe II example with two saw voices, ADSR on both filters and one level. Convert preset with FracTool if you want to try on the III.

 

Attachments

  • Synth bass ASDR (Axe 2).syx
    6.3 KB · Views: 24
first thing i would say is make sure you're getting a decent amount of level into the patch. if you're plugging straight in, without running into a preamp first, you'll need to boost the level, as piezo pickups have a pretty low output. like bakerman said, use a compressor to even out the dynamics...i also use a drive block as well and the input gate to suppress false triggering. use sawtooth waves in the synth and slightly detune them for fatness. try adding a triangle as well. attach envelope or adsr to a low pass filter block after the synth (just easier than using the filters in the synth block, especially if you're using multiple voices) and bump up the resonance. bakerman's example is a great place to start. my stuff is packed up at the moment, but i can do a patch for you if you need it tomorrow.
it might be worth your while downloading the synth patches from my website and having a look at how they're made. you'll need to convert them with fractool - http://www.simeonharris.co.uk/Blocks/blocks.html
the synth block can do some pretty cool stuff, but you have to sort of wrangle it into submission and use ancillary effects like filters, compression, drive, delays, chorus etc to get the best out of it. just like you would with a real monosynth.
 
Try This...
Just my guitar into the attached preset... a couple synth blocks, a couple of filters, a couple of envelopes, an LFO... lots of low end.
synth.png
 

Attachments

  • Synth.syx
    48.2 KB · Views: 20
  • AxeII Synth Guitar mp3.zip
    1.1 MB · Views: 18
simeon said:
first thing i would say is make sure you're getting a decent amount of level into the patch. if you're plugging straight in, without running into a preamp first, you'll need to boost the level, as piezo pickups have a pretty low output. like bakerman said, use a compressor to even out the dynamics...i also use a drive block as well and the input gate to suppress false triggering. use sawtooth waves in the synth and slightly detune them for fatness. try adding a triangle as well. attach envelope or adsr to a low pass filter block after the synth (just easier than using the filters in the synth block, especially if you're using multiple voices) and bump up the resonance. bakerman's example is a great place to start. my stuff is packed up at the moment, but i can do a patch for you if you need it tomorrow.
it might be worth your while downloading the synth patches from my website and having a look at how they're made. you'll need to convert them with fractool - http://www.simeonharris.co.uk/Blocks/blocks.html
the synth block can do some pretty cool stuff, but you have to sort of wrangle it into submission and use ancillary effects like filters, compression, drive, delays, chorus etc to get the best out of it. just like you would with a real monosynth.
Click to expand...


Simeon ~~> Super Big Thanks!!
 
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