Building a monosynth model

The basic workshop has covered the basic tools and knowledge about subtractive synthesis. On the Nord Modular there are two different approaches to working with patches. One approach is to patch a completely new patch from scratch, when you are in need of a new sound. The other approach is to use an existing patch and tweak the knobsettings to obtain a new sound. Which approach is best depends totally on what you want to achieve. To be able to quickly patch a completely new patch you need a lot of knowledge and experience. However it can easily lead to 'new' discoveries, as you probably want to experiment with module interconnections you didn't use before. So your experience will quickly expand. Many times you will find yourself getting completely absorbed in experimenting and end up with totally different sounds than you had in mind. It is great fun to experiment this way and certainly rewarding, but the disadvantage is that it can take up a lot of your time. So, if you need particular sounds fast, e.g. if you're in a studio and you have to pay for every minute you're there, it might be wiser to start with a somewhat more general patch and tweak it quickly to get the sound you need. So it certainly pays off to have some general monosynth patches that you can quickly tweak. In the factory presets there are some of these models, but it is a good thing to design some yourself. That way you know the patches by heart, and you can get results quicker.

In this workshop some tips and tricks about designing a general monosynth model are explained.

It is a good idea to surf the internet in search for information about traditional analog synthesizers. There are many websites where you can get a good idea how a particular synthesizer is set up. One of the first things you will notice is that almost all analog monosynths are organized in sections. Each section controls a specific part of the sound and has one or more controls. The most common sections are:

Envelope section

VCA section

Modulation section

Keyboard section

Effect section