Knife Party Begin Again "Solo Lead"
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- KVRAF
- 1595 posts since 17 Nov, 2007 from Seattle, WA
Well, it's not detuned anyways, and there's no distortion at all.
This is a patch similar to the ole' . He apparently made that solo on a Multimoog, but the important part isn't the gear(it practically never is); it's the features and limitations of that gear, in order to help us figure out how to emulate it in a softsynth. Helps to rule out options, and constrain your experimenting to a smaller set of variables.
This patch relies primarily on two oscillators with carefully set PWM and also getting whatever you can from their relative phase. It also can get very different results based on which waveform you're using. Oscillator 1 is gonna be a pulse wave, but you'll probably need to cycle through a few to get something that sounds right. Save the waveform shopping for near the last step, though - trying to get the right one early will be fruitless.
First, osc 1 is a square/pulse, preferably a thin pulse. Osc 2 is likely a saw. Set oscillator 2's relative phase to ~135 degrees, but this can be adjusted to taste. Next you jack up the pulse width modulation on these waveforms, something around 78% worked on my synth. Then you'll want an LFO modulating the pitch by 0.5 semitones, controlled by the mod wheel.
You can choose to leave the filter alone, or you can emphasize the nasal quality with a lowpass filter with resonance. The peak seems to wander around the 2000-3000 hz area I think. However, this part can be tricky because the filter doesn't sound that great without key tracking - you want that resonant peak to move with the keys as you go up and down the keyboard. So you might save this filter operation for last. Leaving it unfiltered sounds perfectly good.
Put on some chorus for width and shine, but you don't want a lot of depth from the chorus. And then there's the portamento - get that in there for the minor note-to-note bends.
I'm sure this will be a little different depending on your particular chosen synth, but the main idea should be accurate and do-able in pretty much any subtractive synth.
Click for sample.
This is a patch similar to the ole' . He apparently made that solo on a Multimoog, but the important part isn't the gear(it practically never is); it's the features and limitations of that gear, in order to help us figure out how to emulate it in a softsynth. Helps to rule out options, and constrain your experimenting to a smaller set of variables.
This patch relies primarily on two oscillators with carefully set PWM and also getting whatever you can from their relative phase. It also can get very different results based on which waveform you're using. Oscillator 1 is gonna be a pulse wave, but you'll probably need to cycle through a few to get something that sounds right. Save the waveform shopping for near the last step, though - trying to get the right one early will be fruitless.
First, osc 1 is a square/pulse, preferably a thin pulse. Osc 2 is likely a saw. Set oscillator 2's relative phase to ~135 degrees, but this can be adjusted to taste. Next you jack up the pulse width modulation on these waveforms, something around 78% worked on my synth. Then you'll want an LFO modulating the pitch by 0.5 semitones, controlled by the mod wheel.
You can choose to leave the filter alone, or you can emphasize the nasal quality with a lowpass filter with resonance. The peak seems to wander around the 2000-3000 hz area I think. However, this part can be tricky because the filter doesn't sound that great without key tracking - you want that resonant peak to move with the keys as you go up and down the keyboard. So you might save this filter operation for last. Leaving it unfiltered sounds perfectly good.
Put on some chorus for width and shine, but you don't want a lot of depth from the chorus. And then there's the portamento - get that in there for the minor note-to-note bends.
I'm sure this will be a little different depending on your particular chosen synth, but the main idea should be accurate and do-able in pretty much any subtractive synth.
Click for sample.
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- KVRist
- 44 posts since 15 Mar, 2016
There's a brass preset in massive that's pretty close to it it's called solo wine or something. If you actually listen closely to the sound, it's a saw wave going through some kind of distortion unit (guitar rig, ohmicide etc...).
Rob Swire also loves emulating guitars with synths ( massive, fm8) because he gets full control of harmonics.
But that sound is easy to make I'de upload the patch but kvr doesn't let me for some reason. Try making something like the lead for knife party - boss mode. Now that's a challenge
Rob Swire also loves emulating guitars with synths ( massive, fm8) because he gets full control of harmonics.
But that sound is easy to make I'de upload the patch but kvr doesn't let me for some reason. Try making something like the lead for knife party - boss mode. Now that's a challenge
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- KVRAF
- 3231 posts since 10 Nov, 2013 from Germany
Nice tutorial. Some time ago I tried to make the valerie patch on Synth1 but was not so happy with the result.
I will try again with the tips.
EDIT:
Ok, much better now.
http://chris-s.bplaced.net/div/valerie-synth1.mp3
I will try again with the tips.
EDIT:
Ok, much better now.
http://chris-s.bplaced.net/div/valerie-synth1.mp3
Last edited by Chris-S on Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 3231 posts since 10 Nov, 2013 from Germany
I think this is posssible after having reached some number of posts.xerix wrote: I'de upload the patch but kvr doesn't let me for some reason.
To protect for miss-use or something.
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- KVRAF
- 1595 posts since 17 Nov, 2007 from Seattle, WA
Nice, I think I like the tone of yours better than mine. Any differences or subtleties in your version?Chris-S wrote:Nice tutorial. Some time ago I tried to make the valerie patch on Synth1 but was not so happy with the result.
I will try again with the tips.
EDIT:
Ok, much better now.
http://chris-s.bplaced.net/div/valerie-synth1.mp3
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- KVRAF
- 3231 posts since 10 Nov, 2013 from Germany
Dunno, it's all about fine tuning. 
Also I added a small touch of FX: Saturation Knob, EQ, Sanford Reverb.
Also I added a small touch of FX: Saturation Knob, EQ, Sanford Reverb.
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