13. Creating a crazy synth from a single sine wave using delay

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To explore the creative possibilities of echo-driven sound design, we’re going to pile up several delay plugins over a plain synth signal. We’re starting with Ableton Live’s Operator, outputting a basic sine oscillator. These techniques aren’t specific to Live, of course – you can follow along with any raw sine patch.

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First up, we throw an instance of FabFilter’s Timeless 2 over our simple synth signal. In Timeless 2’s Modulation section, we play around with the Frequency of LFO 1 (which is modulating Timeless 2’s filter) and push it into audiorate territories for buzzy, distortion-like echoes. The left and right channels are slightly out of sync for a wide stereo effect.

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Shifting the pitch of delay signals is a tried-and-tested sound design tactic, so the next device in our chain is the creative Valhalla FreqEcho, a free delay plugin with a built-in frequency shifter. A slight positive Shift of 3.80Hz, a 145ms Delay and around 50% Feedback completely washes out our synth signal with shimmering repeats.

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It’s time for a third delay plugin: the insane Sandman Pro from Unfiltered Audio. This effect creates a range of delayed overtones, making the sound appear crystalline and dreamy. The extended feedback makes the echoes drift out.

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Next, Bloom from FXpansion irons out the jagged edges a little, and makes each note in our melodic sequence melt into the next, nearly completing the floating effect Sandman Pro started. Keep an eye on your CPU load as you add more effects

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To finish, we recruit the weird ’n’ wonderful DDLY from Izotope to complete our washed-out ambience. A feedback-heavy, unsynced 20.5 ms Delay setting provides a metallic, pitched timbre. We dial in a touch of Trash and Widen the echoes to engulf the listener in a dreamy soup of melody.