The Making of “Thing EP”
BlackAD is a mysterious noir-synth pop producer from Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. After years of experience as a musician in the local music scene, he has finally released his first solo EP as BlackAD.
This is after a feature on the Tonic Note Records “Breathing Space” compilation in 2020.
In this article, you’ll find out how he made the EP, his inspirations, and hopefully plenty of useful ideas to use in your own music.
Click here to listen to the EP
https://tonicnoterecords.bandcamp.com/album/thing-ep
Cover art for THING EP
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Inspirations
“I’m a fan of early synthpop, from the late 70s / early 80s, like early Mute Records artists such as The Normal, early Depeche Mode and Fad Gadget. The sounds were gritty, homemade, a bit out of tune and not always played in time - but the music was raw, honest and authentic.
Mute founder Daniel Miller actually argues this music was “more punk than punk”, because you needed to learn chords on a guitar to make punk music - with a synth, you only need to press a finger down on one key at a time to achieve the same thing.
The post-punk era was a time when synths and basic recording equipment finally became affordable to everyday people. You finally didn’t need to sell your car or take out a second mortgage to get a Moog Prodigy.
The Equipment
Inspired by those artists, I made the EP using two old-school analog monophonic synths played by hand (no sequencing), and the drum machines around at the time - Roland’s CR-78 and 808. And I used the monosynths to make drum sounds too.
There was some compromise involved - I had to use 808 and CR-78 samples, as ironically the price of the original units is now well beyond affordable for most people.
Recording Process
For the same reason, I had to ditch the idea of recording on a reel-to-reel tape machine and go with a DAW instead. But I made the recordings the way it was done back then - playing each part in live without using digital editing, and only using eight-or-so tracks per song.
For mixing and mastering I stuck to the effects available to musicians of the time - reverb, overdrive, panning and basic EQ.
Creative Process
I tend to write music in my head, while I’m out walking, sitting on the train, in the shower, or when I’m falling asleep. Then it’s a race against time to get recording before I forget them !
I also find the best songs are the ones which come quickly - if I find myself spending a long time working on a bit of music, it generally gets ditched.”
Thank’s to BlackAD for letting us in on his creative process.
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8 Sound Design Tips for Analogue Synths
Analogue Synthesizers have been around since the 1920's, and were so huge, they could fill the space of a whole garage - easily. Until the 1960's, only large institutions like universities or media corporations could afford to own & use these devices.
Luckily for us, in the 1960's, engineers like Bob Moog and Don Buchla created synths that were more user friendly, commercially viable - and scaled down in size.
These synths are referred to as analogue synths because they generate sound using real electrical components, which by their nature are analogue in operation , not digital.
This can often lead to a fat, warm, filthy, and very satisfying tone to the ear.
But wait!
What if you don't own a hardware analogue synth? Well, luckily software developers have been trying to emulate analogue synths for decades now, and they do a pretty good job these days.
Therefore, in our guide, I'll be using Ableton's Analog synth because it is accessible to a lot of readers. You can apply these principles to almost any hardware analogue synth, or any other virtual analogue synth plug in.
“I always figured that if I made something that was too popular, that I was doing something wrong and had best move on… I’ve always enjoyed being on the edge.”
Don Bulcha
Let's get to it, and in the spirit of Don Bulcha feel free to take these ideas and then evolve them into your own unique, edgy sound.
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1 - Huge Detuned Bass
This is my personal favourite trick when using analogue synths, and it’s a sound that always wows me when played through a big PA system in a venue.
Artists like Justice and other noughties electro artists leaned heavily into this sound, and it is a great one for energetic, lively and aggressive sounding tracks.
Osc 1 is an octave higher than Osc 2. Osc 2 is also detuned down, and setting one wave to saw and one to square adds a clash that creates a big, raw sound.
The envelope on the filter and the amp has an immediate attack, does not decay much, then a little bit of release. These settings give an instant impact, and let the sound ring out a little, but not too much.
Unison mode - “Uni” - is on, and set to 40.63, which thickens the sound a lot.
You might have noticed the noise oscillator is on, and set to -19dB. You can’t hear it that well, but when you turn it off, it loses some of that dusty noise we want in this patch.
Finally, some overdrive adds even more drive to the sound, adding that razor edge to a huge patch.
2 - Poly Synth Pad
"It’s important just to follow the moment, when those moments come, and to not be afraid of making mistakes.” - Vangelis
When using the recipe in this article to make patches on your synth, don't forget the above advice from Vangelis. If you go off on a detour from the guide, follow your instinct and you'll make something original you can call your own.
Vangelis is famous for that huge poly-synth pad chord sound, so let's take that for our next inspiration.
When drawing in the chords for this patch, I also put in some bass notes from the chords, 3 octaves lower, to give the patch some oomph.
Saw waves are a great starting point for a 70’s / 80’s style pad, due to their rich harmonics. Osc2 is 1 octave higher, and also slightly detuned for a bit of thickness.
The envelope on the amp comes straight in, but then tails off for that washy sound. The envelope on the filter is similar, but decays slower.
I’ve set a very slow LFO, that modulates the filter freq - this sweeps the filter slowly, adding another wash effect to the sound.
Glide aka “Gli” in on and set to 42%, and this allows the notes to slide into one another.
Finally, I’ve added delay and reverb on the return tracks, and side chain compression that ducks the pad when the kick drum hits.
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3 - Jackin' House Bass
This is a deep and bouncy sound I just can't get enough of. It's well rounded, easy to mix, and really propels a track.
You can hear it in records since the early 80's, but my favourite use of this sound is all over the records by contemporary duo Factory Floor.
Like a lot of my bass patches, I love to have Osc1 as a square wave, and Osc2 as a saw wave. They are both rich in harmonics, slightly clash with each other, and lead to a big sound. Osc 2 is 1 octave higher, but because I want this patch to have smoothness and bounce, there is no detuning
The filter envelope is important here - a quick attack and decay give that plucking sound we are after. The amp envelope is similar, but has a bit more release. Playing around with the amp release as this patch runs is quite satisfying for builds.
To add some movement to the patch, vibrato, unison, and glide, are all on, and set to fairly low values. They all add subtle depth and variation to the sound.
The Noise Osc is also switched on, which at low levels emulates the hum and interference you often get on real hardware synths.
Lastly, I added Chorus on a return track - which is one of my favourite tricks and emulates how a Juno Chorus works. if you drop a chorus directly onto the track the synth is on, it takes away from the clear bass sound, so I often find it is best to add it on the return track.
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"I think obedient music is some of the most boring music in the world.” - John Foxx
4 - Lo-Fi Analogue Snare Drum
With Synth pioneer John Foxx's words ringing in our ears, let's be disobedient to our urges - I bet almost all of you reach for a sample pack when you need a snare drum sound, right?
I do too. But let's rebel against our usual work-flow, and make one ourselves.
Only Osc1 and the Noise Osc are used in this patch. The noise osc is actually more important in this case, giving us the snap of the snare sound. Changing the “colour” setting will brighten or deaden your sound if you turn it up or down. Osc1 is a sine wave, providing us with a tone for your drum.
The filter envelope is very important here, because it creates a shift in tone that mimics what happens when you strike a snare drum. A quick attack and decay are good settings to start with. Regarding the release, you can play around with that to have a boomy snare drum that rings out, or keep it short and snappy with a fast release setting.
Use similar settings for the amp envelope.
5 - That Classic Arpeggio Sound
This sound can give such a classic sci-fi vibe to your track, and it evokes a retro-futuristic vision of the world and space travel.
Daft Punk's 'Discovery" album used liberal amounts of this sound, and when combined with their sci-fi anime visuals, it was a perfect picture.
Osc1 and Osc2 are a saw and square wave respectively, once again giving us that combination for harmonic richness. I've tuned down Osc2 by 2 octaves to add nice amount of bass to the patch.
The amp envelope has a very quick attack and decay, giving us that plucked string sound, and it is good to play around with the release too. More release can make it sound very spacey and cosmic.
The filter envelope decays less, this is because we don't want the filter to react as quickly, because we want time to modulate it with the LFO.
The LFO is set to a slow rate - I find these work best for smoothe modulations over time. It is set to modulate the cut off frequency of the filter, and also the panning of the patch [find this in the amp section]. This gives the pacth even more movement and interest to the ear.
Once again, unison and glide are used to thicken the sound, and add a bit of slide between the notes; and a small amount of the noise Osc is used to add that dusty sound we mentioned before.
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6 - Phat 808-style Kick Drum
The kick drum sound from the original Roland 808 drum machine is ubiquitous, and you'll hear it in a huge variety of genres.
Let's inject some originality into the sound by attempting to create our own version of it, which should add a unique touch to your track.
The foundation of this sound is a deep sine wave, so Osc1 is set to sine. Remember to program in a very low note. We don't need Osc2, but we do need the noise osc quietly in the background.
The amp and filter envelope are set to attack quickly for that initial, impactful transient. This decays quickly, but adjusting the length of the release can let you control how long you want the BOOM to ring out.
It's a simple patch, but adding plugins for extra EQ, saturation, and compression can help you shape the sound further. Remember, we aren't exactly trying to copy the sound of an 808 kick, because why would you? You can just use one of the samples out there. This is about making your own version of it.
"These days, If I’m struggling to produce anything, I’ll write a theme tune for a sh***y 1980’s T.V. show I just made up in my head" - Memorex Memories
7 - Synth-wave Bass
Synth-wave is an awesome genre that takes a huge pile of nostalgic inspiration from the 1980's, as Memorex Memories mentions above.
Looking to another decade for inspiration can get you over writer's block, and also help with your sound design too.
Let's look at how to create a 1980's synthwave bass line that would fit perfectly with a reboot of Knight Rider or any other 1980's TV classic.
We want a classic 80's sound here, so I've selected a square wave on both Osc1 and Osc2. This gives an 80's computer game sound because a lot of video game consoles back then only could produce square waves to generate tones. Osc 2 is tuned down 1 octave to add extra bass to the patch.
The amp envelope is set to a quick attack and quick decay - this helps emulate the pluck of a bass guitar string. Our aim is not to get it sounding exactly like a bass guitar, but using this trick definitely makes the sound more believable. The filter envelope is similar, but with a slower decay.
The LFO is set to a slow rate, and used to ever so slightly modulate the pitch of Osc1. This effectively makes it go slightly out of tune, and is a trick called "pitch drift". Hardware analogue gear like synths, and music formats of the 80's like cassettes were susceptible to pitch drift, so emulating it in your daw gives a sense of the era and realism. It's one of my all time favourite tricks!
Finally I have added a VHS emulator plug in I created in Ableton. You can get this if you download the template file, however there are other free to use VHS and Cassette style plug ins out there that you can use to get similarly 80's results!
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8 - West Coast Lead
One of the most legendary hip hop producers ever - Dr Dre - pioneered this sound, and it is a useful lead sound in many genres, even sitting surprisingly well on delicate folk records if mixed well into the back ground!
Sine waves are the core of this sound, so Osc1 and Osc2 are set to sine wave. Osc2 is an octave higher to give that high tone that cuts through the mix, and it is detuned slightly to add interest to the sound.
The amp envelope is set to have a quick attack, medium decay, and medium release. This lets the sound hang above the rest of the track, but not overwhelm it.
Glide is really important in this patch, because we want it to slide between the notes, almost like a theremin. Unison is set to 24.22 to add a bit of weight and thickness to the sound.
Don't forget the magic ingredient - a bit of delay on a return track really brings this sound to life without smothering it.
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Check out this Spotify playlist containing the sounds and artists referenced in the article
References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_synthesizer
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/arts/music/don-buchla-dead.amp.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/post-punk.com/the-disobedient-machine-an-interview-with-john-foxx/
https://www.loudersound.com/features/far-out-vangelis-on-the-science-and-power-of-music
Images
Giorgio Moroder with his huge Moog Synth system
From: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/28/giorgio-moroder-his-20-greatest-songs-ranked
Don Bulcha, 1970s
Image from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/arts/music/don-buchla-dead.html
Vangelis, 1970s
Image from https://echoes.org/2021/01/19/vangelis-ten-essential-albums-from-an-icon-of-echoes/
John Foxx, 1980s
Image from https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/john-foxx-the-metamatic-interview/
Memorex Memories
Image from https://soundcloud.com/memorexmemories
Halloween Synth Sounds
It all begins with an idea.
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The Main INGREDIENTS Your Track Needs
Making Digital Synths Easy
Making Digital Synths Easy
Digital synths can seem like a complex hell-scape of harsh sounds, difficult to understand controls, and strange terminology. However, if you can understand the basic system of how most synths work, you can definitely dive that little bit deeper into the world of digital synthesis!
People often argue about the concept of digital synths VS analogue synths, but I think famous synth engineer Dave Smith sums up what is really important here:
“Some people get way too wrapped up in technology debates, when it should simply be: ‘Do you like the way the instrument sounds, does it have personality, do you bond with it?’”
So if you like using a certain kind of synth or sound, don’t feel guilty about it, there are different tools for different jobs!
The Basics
The most simple synths have the foundation for almost all synthesizers. So it’s a good idea to recap on this architecture before we proceed.
The Oscillator - this is the source, the thing that generates the tone, without this, you’d have no sound at all.
The Filter - this carves out frequencies to help sculpt your sound.
The Amp - this amplifies the signal so it is audible.
The Envelope - this can control the amp (or the filter), and for example, can be used to control how quickly the sound reaches its maximum volume.
The LFO - This is a Low Frequency Oscillator, that you cannot hear, but can be used to affect the above elements to change (or “modulate”) them over time.
FM synths
Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_DX7
“FM” stands for Frequency Modulation, and was first developed in Harvard by John Chowning, and licensed by Yamaha to create their groundbreaking Yamaha DX7 synth in the mid 1980’s.
If you can imagine glassy pads, bell sounds, smoothe deep bass tones, and 1980’s pop, you can imagine FM synths. They are famous for being hard to program and understand, but that is mainly because the first hardware FM synths did not have user friendly hands on controls.
VSTs and some new hardware FM synths are much easier to program, and with the knowledge below, you’ll have no problems.
Instead of Oscillators, FM synths have “Operators”, which are the starting point for our sounds. There are often four or more operators; the more operators you have, the more complex sounds you can produce.
What is special is that each Operator can modulate the other, setting up a chain reaction of sound manipulation, at the source, even before it gets to the filter, amp, envelope or LFO.
“Algorithm” is the word used to describe the different possible routings of how each operator feeds into another. The different options give you a lot of choice when deciding how the synth is going to behave.
Image from https://forum.pdpatchrepo.info/topic/12256/fm-routing-algorithms
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In summary:
FM synths are great for smoothe 1980’s tones, otherworldly sound FXs, and can also sound very harsh - in a metallic way - when pushed to their limits
Don’t be put off with the myth that you need a PHD to be able to operate an FM synth! Once you know the basics, pull up a preset you like on one track. Then on another track, use the same synth, but initialised. Then you can try manually copying the settings over from one to another, building up the preset sound on track 2. Inevitably, you will never get it sounding exactly the same, and voila! You now have your own unique sound.
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Wavetable Synths
“A perfect system, in my opinion, would be able to reproduce all-natural sounds (like a sampler) but with the possibility to change the sounds as much as possible.” - Wolfgang Palm - Inventor of Wavetable Synthesis.
Image from https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/wavetable/
Instead of an Oscillator, Wavetable synths use an audio sample as their starting point. Unlike a Sampler however, they do not use a static sample. They use a stack of individual waveforms that the synth cycles through as you play it.
Sometimes these stacks (the “Wavetables”) are put together in a smoothe way - for example a nice string sound. Or, the wavetables can also be full of contrasting sounds that create crazy, evolving soundscapes.
Wavetable synths come with thousands of in-built wavetables for you to use, but adding your own is often as simple as dragging and dropping an audio file in. These audio sources often will be chopped into thousands of pieces and have smoothing and warping applied to the sound - thus making the table sound as pleasing as possible.
A key element to Wavetable synths is using the LFOs available to modulate the source sound, and cycle through the wavetable as you play, to create textured, evolving sounds.
When to use Wavetable synths:
When you want evolving, epic, and droning soundscapes
Don’t forget they are also good at emulating strings and other acoustic instruments
Get personal - why not record your own sounds and import them in as a custom wavetable? This will add a unique feature to your sound.
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Other Types of Digital Synths
Granular
“I like textures, slowly evolving things, so I built an instrument to achieve those sounds” - Robert Henke, Ableton
Granular Synths work in a very similar way to Wavetable synths, but instead of a whole stack of source sounds, Granular Synths split the audio sample into tiny “grains”.
These grains are used as your starting point when creating a sound, and using an LFO it is possible to cycle through the grains.
Granulator by Robert Henke (Co-Founder of Ableton) is a great free place to start exploring the possibilities of Granular Synths
https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/granulator/
Wave-Sequencing
Instead of stacking sounds in a stacked wavetable, Wave Sequencing synths put samples in a linear sequence, and scroll through them as you play. Some even have multiple “lanes” of these sequences that can create complex & evolving sounds.
This style of synthesis rose to popularity in the 1990’s with Korg’s Wavestation, so if you are looking for a 90’s rave sound, a wave sequencing synth could be the way to go.
“I use the Yamaha DX7 because I understand it. I know that there are theoretically better synths, but I don’t know how to use them” - Brian Eno on FM synthesis
Even Brian Eno can find new types of synthesizers confusing and difficult to learn! Hopefully this article has made it easier to get your head around digital synthesizers, and you won’t feel at all intimidated when trying them out in future.
Here is a list of digital synth plugins worth checking out:
Ableton Operator
Ableton Wavetable
Ganularor for Ableton by Robert Henke
Arturia Pigments
Omnisphere
Tracktion’s F’EM
Native Instruments Massive X
Let me know if you find any more good ones!
David Maitland
Clan Chieftain at Tonic Note
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