Oscillating string sound ...
 

Hey guys,

I know you all out there hate if someone asks how to create that sound ...
But maybe someone has an idea how the sound I am interrested in, is build of.

The sound I tried (several times) to create with the virus can be heard here (best at 2:55):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lD8Fv7XaEY

I think the keyboarder here (Ade Orange) uses a lot Alesis stuff. So maybe the Alesis synth has some features that can not be reproduced by the virus.

What I tried (without much success) is
- playing arround with Phaser settings
- oscillating the pitch with LFO
- oscillating the cutoff with LFO
- oscillatiog the panorama with LFO
- oscillating phaser settings with LFO

Maybe its a tricky compination of some of the above. I must admit that I am not an expert in sound programming with the virus.

I started altering the preset 'People2 CC'. Here you can here original and my modification. I think it goes in the right direction but is far from the target sound:

http://www.fen-net.de/~na468/soundtest/peopleSoundCompare_orig.wav (Original Preset)
http://www.fen-net.de/~na468/soundtest/peopleSoundCompare_mod01.wav (Modified Preset)

Best regards

Hey guys,

just make another try hoping someone has a good idea or even made a similar sound with the virus.

Thanks for any input.

I think your sounds are too soft and rounded. it's definitely more a saw lead, with more reverb then phase. try a simple string sounds, feed it through some hall delay, and crank some of those newer, juicy, distortions for the edge. I could hear what you were going for, with your samples, but i think the phaser modulates more of your higher frequencies, when in truth, you want to keep them for that sharp, biting attack, which is then quickly dampened down to the soft finish. make sense, or should i break out the bong? :cool:

You mean the higher sound?

www.infekted.org/virus/files/Timo/Numan.wav

@mildheadwound & @Timo
Thank you guys giving me support here!

@mildheadwound
Thank you for your coments. All you wrote (to much softness, more saw/distortion,...), does really makes sence to me.

@Timo
Wow, what a great job! I can not believe that it worked that good at the virus. Can you tell us please how it is mainly build. Of course I would like to have the patch if you will release it. In all the known virus banks A-Q (I am still not through it), do you know comparable sounds? Looks like there is a lack whilest some other kind of patches are repeated and repeated again:-)

Just to let you know I'll post soon. Just got back off holiday which had no internet. :)

No problem timo, no hurry! Of course I am exited to get the patch;-)

Very similar to an initialised patch, and very simple to make.

Oscillator:
Turned the OscBal knob to the left in order to use just oscillator 1;
Selected 'Sawtooth' for oscillator 1;
'Punch' intensity = 64.

Modulation:
Lowered the Sustain of the amplifer envelope to 0 (zero);
Increased the LFO1 amount for 'Osc1' Pitch to 18 for the 'vibrato' intensity, and set the Rate of LFO1 to 96 to match the speed.

Effects:
Phaser Mix = 63 (which gives a 50:50 wet/dry ratio), Frequency = 48, Rate = 36, Stages = 4;
Reverb Send = 71, Type = Ambience, Decay Time = 84, PreDelay = 64

Extra:
Increased Unison to 3 voices, with Detune = 20, and Pan = 0.

It isn't perfect, but should get you started. :) Mess around with all the settings to get it closer.

http://www.infekted.org/virus/files/Timo/Numan.MID

Play it an octave higher than you did for your original demo.

Thanks again Timo!

The patch is already that great:-)
It did play around with it (not too long at the moment) and the only thing I managed is to softn the attack.

I think I have to learn very much. The patch looks not very complex (eg. no matrix if I am not wrong), but even if I try very small changes it either do nothing or makes it totally strange.
Additionally I thought that the max of Unison would always improve the sound. No it didn't (I used different detune). Also I thought OSC2 would improve the sound (same settings as OSC1). No it didn't.

But I already learn a small bit: At LFO1 it is not necessary to use ASSIGN AMT when using one of the targets OSC1/2, PW1+2, ...

But I keep going ...

It can definately be a bit of a rats maze. Many settings audibly do nothing if you've not switched various elements into the sound path.

Sometimes less is more. :) Adding more unison voices eats polyphony (the number of notes you can play at any one time). Sometimes it can sound good, other times less so, it wholly depends on the application. Same with unison detune. Using detune spread increases or decreases the stereo width of the unison effect.

Indeed, sometimes using just one oscillator instead of two (or three) neatens up a sound, giving it more clarity and less baggage.

Yep. Definately keep going, tweaking and experimenting. I'm still learning new things and I've had my Virus for years!