Designing a Synthetic Machine with Absynth
Nov 29th in Sound Design by West Latta
Absynth is one of my favorite tools for sound design, though I don't get a chance to use it nearly as often as I'd like. It has an extremely deep and flexible synthesis engine, yet remains accessible and fun to work with. In just a short amount of time you can have a unique, original sound to use in almost any musical or sound design application.
In this tutorial, we'll be working exclusively inside of Absynth 4, creating a synthetic mechanical sound by using Absynth's amazing breakpoint envelope system.
Westlee Brent Latta has been making strange noises for over 30 years. West has spent the last several years developing his craft in the game industry as composer, sound designer, and integration specialist. He is currently a Sound Supervisor for Microsoft Game Studios/Soundelux DMG.
Tools Used
- Absynth 4 - Native Instruments
Step 1
After launching Absynth, we'll go to the file menu to create a new sound, which I've called "AudioTuts_SyntheticMachine".
Step 2
Next we'll move to the patch window, where we'll set up the basic elements of our sound. On first opening, the Patch window will have only OSC A active, with a default Sinewave as the ocsillator.
We'll change the oscillator type to Fractilize, and select Noise 1 from the Simple Waves menu. We'll set the Transpose field to -45 units.
In the Mod tab of Osc A, we'll set displace to 35 units. In the Uni tab, we'll set Trans to 5 units. I've taken screenshots of each of these settings below, so you can get a feel for them. We'll skip some of the screenshots for the other oscillators to keep things moving.
Step 3
We'll now add some modulation and filtration to this oscillator. Click on the Filter section for Osc A, and set the filter type to Comb and the frequency of this filter to 55Hz.
Enable the Mod section for Osc A and set the Modulator for Freq Shift, using Simple Waves -> Saw_real as the wave type and 7Hz as the frequency. We'll leave feedback at .35.
Here's a screenshot of those final settings, along with a sample of the sound we've got so far.
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Oscillator A
Step 4
Next, we'll create a drone sound using Oscillator B.
- Enable Osc B and set the oscillator type to FM.
- Select 'Subtle Harmonic' from the Morph Waves section of the Wave Selector window.
- In the Mod tab, select Saw_smooth as waveform, and leave all other settings at their defaults.
- Set the output volume of this Oscillator to -6dB.
- We'll skip the Filter and Modulation sections for this oscillator, so here's our resulting sound:
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Oscillator A and B
Step 5
Next we'll create some high frequency content to add to our machine.
- Enable Osc C and set the oscillator type to FM.
- Select 'Infected Harmonies' from the Morph Waves section of the Wave Selector window.
- Set Trans to 19 units. Leave all other settings at their defaults.
- Set the second section to Filter, using a Comb filter at 220Hz with feedback of .5
- Set the output of Osc C to -3dB.
Our final output of the three oscillators is almost complete. Here's what we've got so far:
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Oscillator A, B and C
Step 6
The final step on the Patch page is to route the Master Output through the Pipe effect - one of my favorites!
- Click on the Effect slot, and select Parameters...
- In the next window, select the Pipe radio button.
- Set Output L's Position to .8
- Set Output R's Position to .2
- Set the Input Position to .5
Step 7
The final step in our sound is to create some additional motion in the sound by using Absynth's powerful Breakpoint Envelope system. There are a nearly infinite number of ways to modulate your sounds using the Envelope system in Absynth, so we'll just experiement with a few of them.
- For all three Oscillators, we'll soften the attack of each sound.
- We'll then add a new Envelope, routed to the Main Pitch of Oscillator B.
- Extend the end of the envelope, set the envelope to Loop mode and add break points to taste.
- Add another new envelope, routed to Filter C1 Frequency.
- Extend the end of the envelope, set the envelope to Loop mode, and add break points to taste.
The final product may look something like this:
And the final output, played back at various pitches:
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Final Output
Absynth is a very deep synthesizer, and we've only scratched the surface of its capabilities. If you enjoy this tutorial, let us know in the comments!
User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Adam November 30th
Not bad, thanks
( )Gennaro November 30th
hi,thanks for your tutorial, I have a user Absynth 4 it’s a fantastic crazy manipolators synthesizer
( )Hari Karam December 13th
Cool. Thanks for getting me started…
( )mr. tunes December 17th
this type of tutorial appeals to me more than a lot of others here. i’m lucky to have absynth conveniently here from the komplete package.
some feedback on the tutorial though –
just before step 5 my patch started to sound different. also the picture in step 5 is different than the text. ie the oscillator type on C should be infected harmonies.
also i found that step 7 is a little brushed over. i had to play around to load up the different envelopes, and they were all triggering in strange ways (the point of absynth i guess!). something to do with the release cause when i let go of the key it kept trying to move through the envelope and was still playing out the speakers.
anyways just commenting that i liked the tutorial but it could use a bit of polish in some places cause absynth has always been daunting for folks like myself.
how about a FM8 one too ?
( )mahek January 5th
hey mate thanks bro .. really love it .. can ou come up woth more mate or a version 2 of inside absynth mate cheers
( )migumartinez January 30th
hi,
( )i find your tuts very interesting. i thnk unique sounds are essential. i alwas wonder how the pros programm their synths and what the secret ist. maybe you can listen to jimpsters tracks on myspace. if you scroll down in his player you will find a track called JV the deep. i would like to know how he creates thos synth pads the build up the drama and tension. can you explain the secrets????
Edwin February 9th
very good fun. tx very much.
( )Hiphi April 24th
Very useful tutorial. Thank you!
( )Cliff September 30th
Greetings,
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I hesitate to be critical because you obviously shared yourself with us here and for that you are rightly thanked!
I did, however, keep wishing tht you would explain, in every step, why you were making the setting changes you were making. What I feel I end up with is a cool sound by following the steps, but it was a little like painting by the numbers in that I had no real idea what I was doing outside of making setting alterations.
Many of the edits seemed to have no affect on the sound being created, and I kept thinking you would go into these later, but I never did learn why most of these settings were being called for.
Also, after loading the envelopes at the end I could not, can not, for the life of me, get them to look like your settings. I admit that I am a relative newbie, but something as simple as “Softening the attack” of the three oscillators should be easy fare, but is something I could not do. I wonder why?
I know it would take much longer to create a tutorial like what I am asking, but the end result would be beneficial to users in an understanding of the overall approach.
Please continue to make tutorials.
Thanks for all your efforts.
( )Shannon McDowell October 23rd
Thank you so much for this tutorial! While I too wish it were more in-depth, it did help me to get a handle on what I was doing in Absynth. Thank you for giving me a starting point.
Best wishes!
( )Shan