|
Which filters sound the best?
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Zombie0915 |
What kind of filters do good producers look for in their equipment?
The reason I ask is that I'm trying to put together a fun ghetto subtractive synth using a function generator from school and a bunch of circuit pieces I have lying around. If I can come up with anything decent before the semester ends I could end up making a better one for an EE design project later.
So I'm wondering which kind of filters yield "better" sounds, pictures and/or formulas of some ideal transfer functions would be extremely helpful if anyone has those.
I imagine its a lot more than just a 2 port loop with a resistor and a capacitor. If I knew what kind of transfer function to aim for I'm sure I could come up with something that gets pretty close to it.
I'm looking to start by making a lowpass and a highpass, im aiming for simple ones at first.
I'm gonna be thinking about envelope generators and LFO's and more modulating stuff later if I can get past this part. I might even attempt to get a few more of those function generators and try to do parts of this tasks with a couple laptops I have lying around too. The idea I'm trying to get at is to make a nice sound with the biggest ugliest looking mess of equipment possible :happy2: |
|
|
| pho mo |
| Wow, that's way over my head. Good luck! And use your ears ;) |
|
|
| Tranc3 |
Good sounding filters are all subjective really....some people like quick cutoffs, others like a slow slope, etc....
What I recommend you do is look up the plans for an old synth whose filters you really like, and copy that. |
|
|
| Zombie0915 |
I seem to remember many people talking about synths with "good filters" and there appeared to be an overall agreement over which ones were better. From all the stuff I've been reading the filters seem to be one of the main peices that define a synth's unique sound. One thing I remember reading was that a big group thought that all the roland instruments sounded the same because of a certain filter they had, a bunch of people didn't like them because of this.
I guess trial and error is the best way to figure out this sorta stuff, but a lot of people appear to have the same idea about which filters sound better and I was hoping that they would go into a bit more detail about how this "good filter" behaves. |
|
|
| retiro |
| try an oil filter! sounds great when its welded on and you need it off! |
|
|
| fr0st |
here is my personal favorite filter..... Its from the oberheim xpander and matrix 12
enjoy
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
|
|
|
| Massive84 |
thing is wiht the subtractor , if you set the filter at max, the sound gets so thin and that annoying hiss hangs in the mix as well.
i prefer a filter without that, and a slow cutoff is nice for atmosphereic builds for melodies. |
|
|
| retiro |
get a sense of humour hey! |
|
|
| DjSimonB |
Haha, an Electrical Engineering student. I might be one of these next year, best of luck building your synth :) If I was doing that I'd probably just get some logic gates going and have some random flashing LED's on various parts of your synth as well, just for the hell of it.
If you use it to make a good track, then let us hear :p |
|
|
| Zombie0915 |
Those are awesome links, thanks alot!!
I'll be employing gates and LEDs and such eventually, but first I have to get something to make some sort of sound before making it look pretty. I'll have to find a different source of oscillation eventually too, cause I'm not allowed to keep the function generators.
You all have been a great help, this is going to be an ongoing project I'll be sure to keep you updated as I put this together, but I'm starting this really really early and its gonna take a looooooooong time to figure everything out.
From those links it seems that the 4-pole filters are more common in pro synths, but massive wants a slow cutoff? I have plenty of time to experiment with things. If I build one and enjoy doing it enought maybe I'll make another, wouldnt that be fun to have a whole arsenal of my own things to play with, too bad I don't have nearly enough time to make one that works with a sequencer, so the odds of coming up with a track are quite low, I might get some unique samples to play with tho. |
|
|
| audiotherapy |
| hey Zombie0915, i'd love to chk out what your working on... i live in raleigh... |
|
|
|
|
