modulation tips?
 

I have a virus A. I have had it about 1.5 years and gotten decent at programming patches amp-osc-filter-effects. I am still iffy on programming LFOs. Recently, I discovered the modulation matrix from this board (velocity routed to cuttoff) and was wondering if you guys had any tips on getting more from patches via modulation. I know the Virus A does not have all the functions the C does but any input would be helpful.

This months Sound on Sound has an article on such tips.

modulation makes your sound more alive!
you can make vibratos, open/close cutoff, morph a sound by changing its waveshapes, change the envelope's decay from linear to concave or convex.... all this fills your sounds with presence.

For vibratos it is quite simple, set lfo1 to modulat osc1+osc2 at a high rate
For cutoff sweeping, set lfo2 to modulate filter1+2
For envelope's decay, in the mod matrix set the source to the filter envelope and destination to filter decay. Positive amount makes a concave decay, a neg value makes a convex one (like moog's, this is also explained in the programming tutorial on access website)

another tip.... sync 2 saw, set osc2 semitone to +7 and osc2 to -12, using lfo1 (slow rate) modulate the osc2 pitch with a high amount, you'll get a kind of screaming sound......

etc etc etc.... just expreriment and you'll find your own preferences....

You can use modulation matrix as you wish. Basic modulations are cutoff, pitch and PWM modulations, but be creative and experiment. Try things out. There are no rules and the best kind of modulations usually come up accidentally.

One thing really makes me wonder: How on earth it took 1,5 years to find one of the most important features in your Virus? I'd really advice you to read the manual through. It might help you to develop your patch programming skills.

I got the Virus after starting a project with a friend. That eventually bombed and I decided I would just work alone. I had pretty good knowledge of subtractive synthesis before I got it just from reading on the net. At first I just loaded sound banks and would edit somewhat. By the time I started making my own sounds from scratch, Java, calculus and Chemistry started catching up with me. My school ended up taking priority over synths. So inbetween semesters (like now) I program the mess out of my virus. So far I have 15 or so patches that are ALL programed by me.

One more question. What is the best way to get Low bass from the virus. I made a patch for the Pro-53 that was pure sub bass (kinda like you would hear in the background of DnB songs). I tried similar settings on the virus and got no where near as low of tone. Can the virus do this or is this what the Pro one, Pulse and other monosynths are for?

Try out saw/pulse oscs with really low cutoff LPF with keyfollow in +32 and some resonance (also rememer triangle subosc). Virus beats Pro-53 easily.

Cool, I got the sound i was looking for in two minutes. Some one told me once sine waves were best for low bass so maybe thats why I never could get it to sound right. thanks.

To be fair to the Pro53, soundwise it does resemble a prophet.......but personally I wouldnt wipe my ass with it.

Ive compared the Pro53 (the demo version) to an Original Rev 3.3 Prophet 5.....just makes me want to keep the real one even more. The Pro3 really lacks rumble.....no where near as raw as a real Prophet. I wish manufacturers would stop calling softsynths.....Minimoog, CS80 etc etc....I think its misleading. But then again.......most Joe Bloggs walking the streets probably dont care as much as I do. Ive come to realise something in recent years. I have a very real passion/love for synthesizers......and I think my ideal job would to go and work for a synth company and help them make classic hardware synths.

I'd love to be a tester of synths.....Id enjoy giving detailed feebback and recommendations for improvements. It would be the ideal job for me....b'cos im a bit geeky hehehe

God I love synths :P

DS

No, no, no. Sines lack higher frequency components so it's very hard for human ear to determine the pitch of low sine waves. It just sounds like "WHOOOOOO" without any kind of tone. Try it out and you'll see. Alvays use complex waves in basses. Just filter them a bit to get the sharpness off.

Yeah - the problem with sine basses is that they only work on massive bass bins. On anything smaller, in order to hear them properly you'll end up having to turn them up so loud in the mix, that they'll smother everything else in the process and kill your headroom stone dead.