Deadmau5 Synth

[Nine Volt]

If you didn't know what a saw wave was then that would be depressingly sad. That's why you got the 'omg' and 'wtf' reactions.

[Ptepix]

Ah....ofc I know what a saw wave is >.< lol I've been doing this for 4 years now lol
Cool :3

[annoying twang]

People learn something new everyday, don't be sad about learning something new.


'Sup?

[Ptepix]

A saw wave isn't new to me though...I was confused at what other people were saying though

[annoying twang]

Of course you know what is a saw wave, but you didn't know how was it called (saw wave). You can distinguish a saw wave and a sine wave? Of course you can!. But now you know a saw wave is called saw wave and where to find a saw wave and how to draw saws and how saws sounds and how amazing saw waves are on the basslines! ^^

So, nice to meet you Ptepix

PD: Saw wave + Dist + Dist + Moar dist = Niiiiiiiiiiice!

[Ptepix]

Mhhhmmm XD you too :3

[Forza SoundFire]

Dont know of any of you caught my comment about FM synthesis~ I'm really serious about that! It's most likely a ring mod or something else harsh like a pulse.

Saw waves are far too soft.

[Ptepix]

Dont know of any of you caught my comment about FM synthesis~ I'm really serious about that! It's most likely a ring mod or something else harsh like a pulse.

Saw waves are far too soft.

I have yet to find a good tut on FM synthesis XD
It is really confusing to me...I'm sure I'll get it one day though

[Forza SoundFire]

Dont know of any of you caught my comment about FM synthesis~ I'm really serious about that! It's most likely a ring mod or something else harsh like a pulse.

Saw waves are far too soft.

I have yet to find a good tut on FM synthesis XD
It is really confusing to me...I'm sure I'll get it one day though

Ok. Here's a low-down! =D

FM (frequency modulation) synthesis forms that basis of sooo many synths in music these days (and since, ummm... maybe the 80's with roland and yamaha's synths).
Most often your wave (almost exclusively a sine wave) is modulated in pitch by another wave.This can make the waveform so much more complex, making it have more harmonics (this is where really wide and dirty synths come from). At the very extreme end of FM, it starts sounding noisy and less pitched (like the synth in Deadmau5 you refer to) because of all the harmonics.

I find it likely that the synth Deadmau5 uses will be a subtractive synth, and that he simply raises the frequency of a low-pass filter to get the higher harmonics of what is already being played. But do whatever you need to do to get the sound!

So, you want to route an oscillator to the pitch of another wave. LFOs are usually too slow, and don't change pitch with the MIDI signal, so use another oscillator to do this.
Explore how the sound changes with the modification of the pitch (and type) of the modulator wave.

Hope that helps somewhat!

[Ptepix]

Pieces of that made sense XD
I did follow a tut to get a sweet bass in FM8
But I'm sure that tut barely scratched the surface

[Nine Volt]

Oh trust me, FM synthesis is hell if you don't know what you're doing. Good luck :3

I don't think that bass is FM though.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

At the risk of derailing this thread further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3yrd2YvkUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpTTFNRU54

[Forza SoundFire]

At the risk of derailing this thread further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3yrd2YvkUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpTTFNRU54

Very good explanation here ^^ I've read his book; How to Become a Synthesiser Wizard

In the second video (part 2~ watch part 1 first) he explains how to use mods to mod mods! (the cascade)
You can hear how noisy it gets.

[Ptepix]

At the risk of derailing this thread further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3yrd2YvkUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpTTFNRU54

Ok cool. I'll have to watch these

[cyrricky]

I don't think that bass is FM though.

Agreed. It doesn't sound like FM at all

[Forza SoundFire]

I don't think that bass is FM though.

Agreed. It doesn't sound like FM at all

Maybe you could give some speculation why? Your opinion would be so much more valid ^^

[Nine Volt]

FM synths have a certain quality to them that this bass does not have. This bass sounds like a saw wave or two with heavy distortion and processing. I have not known deadmau5 to use FM synths at all (I watch many of his livestreams, which often feature him making music, so I have a general idea of how he works). And besides, what's the point of using a more complex form of synthesis to do the exact same thing that subtractive synthesis could've accomplished much sooner?

[Forza SoundFire]

Ok~ so approaching from the side of using saw waves, I guess you could build the traditional hoover synth and massively detune it. That might get the same noisy effect, although I'm not completely convinced it will ^^

My issue is the amount of harmonic content (or lack of it) in Deadmau5's synth~ thus the complex synthesis method.
Not sure what else to suggest to get that working!

[cyrricky]

I don't think that bass is FM though.

Agreed. It doesn't sound like FM at all

Maybe you could give some speculation why? Your opinion would be so much more valid ^^

FM Has a particular quality to it that the bass in this song notably lacks. It's a sort of hollow, not-quite-organic-but-kind-of-close sound.

This, on the other hand, sounds to me like a distorted saw

EDIT:
Whoops thanks 9v

My issue is the amount of harmonic content (or lack of it) in Deadmau5's synth~ thus the complex synthesis method.
Not sure what else to suggest to get that working!

When I make basses, i tend to push them through a really harsh four band EQ which pretty much destroys the harmonic content. Perhaps he did something similar.

[Forza SoundFire]

Fm synthesis can sound very basic when you use it lightly.

It moves to being unpredictable and noisy when you start being really heavy handed with it!

[cyrricky]

I've never heard any FM synth, be it a synthesized bell/tinkle to a growl bass, that didn't have that quality to it