https://soundcloud.com/netsu-music/skwalgrzebybnia
So I guess the three most prominent synths (apart from the bassline which is actually 2 polysynths and 1 FM4 playing unisono
) are:1. The buzzing ARP that can be heard from 1:35 onward
2. The guitar-like synth that starts playing at 1:52
3. The funky modulated melody that joins it at 2:12
So first the buzzy thing. The basis of this sound is pretty simple, a lowpassed double saw with heavy distortion, here is how I setup Polysynth exactly:
To make it more interesting I added a lot of modulation though. The are basically 3 classic LFO modulators added.
The first one randomly modulates the filter cutoff. It has note retrigger and a very slow rate (0.01hz), it makes sure that each note has a slightly different cutoff.
The second one is a SINE with a rate of about 1-2hz and note retrigger. It modulates the filter cutoff and pan. The goal is to add movement to the sound.
The third LFO is pretty much the same as the first one but instead of modulating cutoff it modulates the PHASE of the SECOND LFO. This way each note will start the filter sweep triggered by the second LFO at a different point of the sine wave, ensuring more variation.
One additional trick is this flanger:
This is the same trick as with the cutoff - a random LFO with a slow rate and note retrigger ensures each note is flanged a little differently.
Now on to the 'guitar' sound. The basis of this sound is Polysynth configured like this:
Notice that only the second oscillator is actually playing here. A slightly deformed square with a resonant bandpass filter and a sine shaper. Again, there is modulation going on. The slower LFO is modulating the oscillator pulse width for a more organic sound and the faster LFO modulates the pitch and filter cutoff VERY slightly.
The very important part is the 4-step modulator which modulates pitch a little stronger, giving the sound this bendy, string instrument feel.
Also what you cannot see in the picture is that velocity modulates filter envelope depth.
But all this still sounds synthetic and dull until I apply the single most underestimated Bitwig plugin, AMP:
Nothing really special going on here, just remember to turn on stereo processing for the plugin, I don't know why but it's turned off by default.
Last but not least, the funky melody. This is again just Polysynth and modulation:
Pulse width of both oscillators is all the way to the left, what you cannot see is that the amplitude envelope modulates both of them rather strongly. Then you have this funky LFO, which is a random sine (the last shape) with note retrigger. Additionally its phase is modulated by a random LFO, the same trick I used on the ARP discussed earlier, for extra funkyness. Then this crazy LFO modulates filter cutoff.
And that's it! I hope someone will find this useful or interesting
