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Steel Guitar Synth (Sytrus)
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| Ponemax |
Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone can give me some tips on how to make a trance lead that has a steel guitar character to it. I'm really a newb at FM Synthesis, but this is a goal that I am working on.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Lester |
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| Ponemax |
| Also, how do I get a slide effect from sytrus? I can't seem to do it in the piano roll. |
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| tehlord |
| Slide effects are most easily achieved by turning on portamento and overlapping notes in the piano roll. |
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| kitphillips |
| I find you can get some good guitar results out of a square wave with the pulse width turned a long way to either side and a very sharp attack... Awesome bass guitar effect too actually. |
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| Ponemax |
| quote: | Originally posted by kitphillips
I find you can get some good guitar results out of a square wave with the pulse width turned a long way to either side and a very sharp attack... Awesome bass guitar effect too actually. |
I can definitely see how a square wave would make a good bass...but I want something twangy. I am going to give that a shot though. Still can't figure out porta...
Thanks guys.
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| kitphillips |
It sounds moderately twangy. I'd upload an example but I'm lazy.
just try it and see. If you get the envelope and the oscillator width right it'll probably sound as good as anything you can do with FM IMO. Maybe look into physical modelling if you want a better sound, or just play a steel string guitar into a microphone. |
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| cryophonik |
kit is right - the best results will come from sample-based synthesis, depending on how realistic you want the sound to be. But if you're just looking to add some steel guitar character, it can probably be done.
Steel guitars, like all plucked stringed instruments, have a distinctive pitch envelope to them that is caused by the bend (i.e., increased tension) of the string that occurs immediately after the pick strikes it. Steel guitars are especially pitchy (i.e., twangy). So, you should try modulating the pitch with an envelope resembling the pitch of a plucked string (i.e., fast attack > decay stage in which the pitch goes sharp, returning to center during the sustain stage, etc.). The amplifier envelope should also have a quick attack > decay stage to resemble the plucked portion, followed by a longer sustain/release stage. Also, steel guitars have very complex waveforms with many overtones, so choose and combine waveforms that are rich in harmonics. Additive synthesis can be helpful, if that's an option.
edit: thinking about this some more, your filter envelope should be similar to your amplifier envelope. The pluck portion of a steel guitar sounds bright and contains many harmonics, and the sound dulls as the string sustains, so your filter envelope should open wide during the attack/pluck stage and close slowly during the sustain stage (using a low-pass filter, of course). |
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