The next stage in my production is going to be learning to program synths. Like so many in the production learning process, browsing preset after preset just lost the fun, as it rarely pays off in my experience.

I'm trying to find out what makes up the general lead synth (you know the one) have. I'm not talking about ADSR i'm talking waves.

What kind of waves and settings are generally layered/used to create the leads used most commonly and what other aspects are fundamentally used?

Thanks in advance!

p.s If theres anything you want to add, any tips or advice even better.

Last edited by Tech0rz on Jul-15-2005 at 12:37

i've been reading this 7 part article series on synthesis here

it gets very indepth but covers everything!

Hey. Just with anything else, its all up to the imagination. I could create a lead with nothing but a single saw wave or I could get a fatter sound with using more than one oscillator and detuning them or I could make a lead using a single square wave and adjusting the pulse of the wave to give it a thinner, more vibrant sound that will carry over other sounds. Of course, this is just in the realm of subtractive synthesis. There is so many more types: FM, Additive, Resynthesis, Sample Based/Wavetable. All of these are worthy types of synthesis that can be used to create various elements in a song. Whats important is to realize each ones strengths and weaknesses. The easiest, and the one I would suggest to all beginners is subtractive synthesis. Thats because you are given one or more oscillators and maybe some various properties that can be tweaked and then you will or should have 2 envelopes, one for amplitude (volume) and one for the filter.

If you want a simple good lead, here are some steps to take with LinPlug Free Alpha (since its free and does good subtractive synthesis).
-LinPlug FreeAlpha

Saw Lead

1: Firstly, set the synth to initialization mode (init).
-Download it from me here.

2: Since we are making a imple saw lead, we wont be using the second voice of eithre oscilator (voice 'B') but we will be using the first voice of each oscillator. So lets change voice A in osc 1 to 'VintSaw 2'. This sounds pretty thick and rich on its own but jsut a shadow of what it will become. For voice A on osc 2, lets make it 'SawSpec2'. Now it shouldnt sound any different right now but that is easily fixed by moving the '1 MIX 2' knob up to the middle notch. Right now it should sound fat but kinda blah.

3: Now we get into programming the synth. Turn up the detuning knob (its in the second oscillators settings) to the third notch. Now it should start sounding a little more pleasant to the ears.

4: We need a slight tail on the lead to give it a smoother feel. In the 'AMP ENV' section, turn the 'REL' (release) knob up to the fourth notch.

5: Now we need to make it a little more interesting to listen to. To do this, we use an LFO (low frequency oscillator). Essentially what an LFO allows us to do is, control another parameter with another oscillator (sort of). Now, we could turn on beat sync, but that makes it so the sound repeats in a pattern, which can be good if you were doing a bassline, but for the matter of a lead, lets make it interesting and set the speed freehand. Over on the right hand corner, youll see 'LFO' and then in that section, youll see a knob 'FREQ'. Turn the frequency up so the white line lines up exactly with the first dot (it CANT be all the way down if you want the LFO to work).

6: Next, we need to do something with this LFO. To do this, we use the 'MATRIX' and have Neo do the rest, or not. Click in the first blank on the left of the Matrix (it should say '---' ) and go to the bottom where it says 'LFO 1'. That is our source of modulation/control. On the right side we will tell it where to route it to. In this case, we will route it to the 'Cutoff Filter'. In the center of the Matrix, you see a decimal number. Click, hold and drag the cursor up until you hit around 0.100. It should look like:
LFO 1 0.100 Cutoff Filter
--- 0.000 ---
(yadda yadda)

7: Next, we need to configure the filter. Move down to the bottom left. To get the effect we are aiming for, move the Cutoff knob to the second to the last notch. Now we have a sound thats pulsing. We are getting close to a decent lead.

8: Move back to the right side where it says 'Glide'. Click once where it says 'off' to turn it 'on'. Now move the knob labeled 'Time' up to the very center marking. This jsut gave it a kind of bendy type sound. Something to stand out against the bass and pads.

9: Right now, the sound still seems a little dry. Move to the bottom center and add a little chorusing. This will add a bit of grit as well as adding in stereo delay. Its important not to overdo it on how wet the sound is because too much chorusing will cause muddyness and thats DEFINANTLY not what we want on a lead. Turn the knob 'WET' up to the second notch and the 'TIME' notch up to the second to the last notch. This jsut created a bit wider and much smoother sound.

10: To finish it off, I think the sound is still jsut a little too clean and much too 'digital' in my opinion. Many synths including FreeAlpha offer something to make these digital VSTs sound more like analog synths. One of the major differences between a digital and analog synth is the oscillators. With a digital synth, the oscillators will ALWAYS be in tune with eachother until you turn a knob to make them detuned. With an analog synth, the physical oscillators will actually drift over time (those DJs out there will know this with thier turntables drifting out of sync) so that each voice becomes slightly detuned. As I said, FreeAlpha offers something to simulate this. Just above the preset selector in the bottom right corner, theres a box labeled 'PRECISION'. Turn it down the 95%. Its a small difference but in my opinion a worthwhile difference.

I know its not the best lead in the world but its not too bad for a free synth and with a simple patch . Have fun.
-Finished preset can be found here .

Cheers,
Zac

___________________
DarkSword - Turn On
DarkSword - Hell Bound
DarkSword - Fresh
DarkSword - Styled
DarkSword - Shadowed Sun
DarkSword - Turning Forward
DarkSword - ALLFRUIT
Pacific Mint vs DarkSword - Climax Zone 2005
SoundClick Page

---FL Studio 9 User---

It depends on what kind of lead you're going for. For arps, the short duration of the notes sound more interesting to me with a more detuned saw or square wave with some distortion or a superfast lfo added and a fast release with a little reverb and delay. For a more classic synth lead, the detune effect is less dramatic and square waves and sine or triangle waves can also be used. Use less delay to keep things clear. For monophonic leads a fast glide is also great. No glide on the arps unless you're going tb303 style.

@ DarkSword

Thanks for such a detailed post. I followed your tutorial and yes it has given me a bit more insight into the workings of a synth, which is just what i need.

I've still yet to come to grips with the stuff like "The Matrix" but maybe Morpheus can help me out

@ Troia

Thanks I did have a look at that page, but i'll make sure i have a proper read through.

@ Degradation

Useful info there thanks alot.

Hey. Surfing around on the web, I stumbled across this page . Anyone just starting to program synths should look over this page. It has a lot of good graphics as well as some good sound examples. There arent really any tutorials on how to program synths per ce, but its an excellent resource to look at to get you started because it tells you about all the different types of wave forms, all the different effectors (LFOs, evelopes, modulation, etc.) and a good bit of information talking about each type of synthesis (or msot types atleast).

Cheers,
Zac

___________________
DarkSword - Turn On
DarkSword - Hell Bound
DarkSword - Fresh
DarkSword - Styled
DarkSword - Shadowed Sun
DarkSword - Turning Forward
DarkSword - ALLFRUIT
Pacific Mint vs DarkSword - Climax Zone 2005
SoundClick Page

---FL Studio 9 User---

Thanks DS that looks really useful I'll check it out later, gotta run now though. Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by Troia i've been reading this 7 part article series on synthesis here it gets very indepth but covers everything!

Nice link...

You may find this usefull, it covers a broad range of synthesis methods and is soft-synth oriented, but you'll be able to make use of it whatever you're using:

http://www.noisesculpture.com//index.php

Bookmarked

Cheers!