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6. Discover spectral synthesis with Thorn CM

1

Additive synths are the more traditional programming, whereas spectral synths employ more visual waveforms. As part of our free plugin suite, we’ve got a edition of Dmitry Sches’ Thorn so you can now explore some spectral wonder for yourself.

2

Have a play with the default patch. It sounds fine – a pumping sawtooth wave like that found on any virtual analogue synth. Don’t be fooled, though – Thorn CM’s oscillators aren’t standard VA jobs. Clicking Oscillator 1’s tiny waveform display opens an additive-style editor…

3

Note the handful of Draw Mode buttons in the lower-right of the enlargened display. If Free isn’t highlighted, select it. This lets us draw in and alter the individual partials that make up our waveform. We randomly notch out groups of partials.

4

Our waveform now has a guttural, vocal-like quality, especially when played in lower ranges. Reload the Sawtooth wave from the Basic waveforms category. Next, select Even Draw Mode and swipe the range of partials. Reducing the even partials gives us a square wave.

5

Let’s draw some even partials in again at random. Make sure to have lots of stuff happening at the upper harmonic range. This gives our sound a ‘digital’ quality. When we have a sound we like, save the waveform as CMCustom. Ours is among the Tutorial Files for this issue.

6

Next, activate Osc 2 and draw a custom waveform for it, an octave higher than Osc 1. Click the Harmonic Filter display. Familiar? Yes, it too can shape the spectrum of the incoming signal, far more powerfully than the usual low-pass job. Draw in a custom shape.