DSI PRO 2 PLUCKED PATCH SOUND DESIGN TUTORIAL ~ Synthesize This! Ep.24

Published on Jun 12, 2017 once upon a synth

"How to make a pluck sound patch from scratch on the Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 synthesizer. I go over two versions of the plucked sound, one paraphonic and another monophonic. In paraphonic mode we can play chords but we are limited to only one oscillator per note. We compensate for that by utilizing the sub octave oscillator and some modulation and effects. In monophonic mode we have 4 oscillators to play with so we can be a little more creative with the sound. I utilize a noise oscillator to add a bit more punch to the attack phase."

Meng Qi : 静止 Static | 流动 Flow

Meng Qi

流动 Flow


"Link to EP : http://bit.ly/WPResoFb

2020 was a bumpy year. But there was a major achievement for me, which is the release of Wing Pinger and Wingie. For so long I've been dreaming of designing standalone synth, for that standalone synths convey more of designers' ideas and decisions. The release of Wing Pinger and Wingie are not just a graduation ceremony for me, it marks a starting point for new adventures.

In 2021, I have two major plans for me. One is several collaborative synth projects with synth designers I've admired for a long time. Once done, it'll fullfill my life goal in some way. Another is working with Annqi for a Chinese synthesizer podcast and WeChat social media, it's called 合成少数派 (Synthesize Minority). You can consider following it if you use WeChat.

At this moment, I would like to release an EP, it's called Wing Pinger Resonator Feedback. It was an experiment I've done in April, by using Ableton Resonator in the feedback loop of Wing Pinger. The thoughts behind was to use Wing Pinger chaos for timbers and dynamics, and to use Resonator to broadly hinting stable pitches. In this case, there is no need to worry about pitch quantization in a chaotic system, but "quantization" happens naturally with resonances. This method frees up the chaotic system, and at the same time providing stable tonal feels.

This experiment inspired me and actually gave me a new way of thinking. It's the start of designing Wingie, as well as a start for a very important collaborative project, and certainly means a lot to me. I choose the first day of 2021 to release it, as I concluded 2020, and start the new year fresh.

Wish all of you good luck in your future endeavours.

http://mengqimusic.com"

Roland SH-1000 Oscillator Waveform

YouTube via rolandsh1000
"Just a short video showing the oscillator of the Roland SH-1000, their first synthesizer. This synth is interesting because it uses a common organ Top Octave 6-stage Divider chip (LM3216) to create the oscillator waveforms. These chips are fed by a high frequency clock and they generate all the pitches of a musical octave (ignore what I say in the video about the signal outputs being footages). These are then divided down for lower pitch generation and, to create various waveforms, the various divided-down signals are mixed via resistor and capacitor networks to shape various oscillator waves.

In this video, I focus on the sawtooth wave, since that's a simple waveform that is usually generated in an analog synth by repetitively charging then resetting a capacitor with a constant current, to make a very smooth continuous ramp. In the SH-1000, not only does the sawtooth waveform have "bumps" due to the mixed pulses/squarewaves, but the shape of the ramp is different at different footage settings.

Roland had experience with these chips in other contemporary devices: I have a Roland EP-30 that has (I think) 8 of these LM3216 chips. It also tries to synthesize saw-like waves, but the resolution for the saw waveforms that keyboard is much worse. So, basically, if my SH-1000's TOD chip goes bad, I have quite a few replacements at the ready! ;)"