>Step by step

Making a dynamic FX riser

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The first step is to load Arturia Pigments – or similar subtractive synth – into your DAW. Then click Menu and New Preset. This will initialise all of Pigments’ parameters to its default state. If you play the keys on your MIDI keyboard you should only be hearing a raw, unaffected sine patch. 2

First, make sure your oscillator engine is set to Wavetable. Click Morph to disable its morphing function. This will enable us to pick the precise sawtooth waveform using the Wavetable Position parameter. We could’ve selected the analogue engine for the basic sawtooth, but wavetable synthesis gives us access to additional sound sculpting. 3

The core sound of this FX patch is a dynamic pitch movement over time. The first modulation assignment is LFO to Tune Coarse. Click on LFO 1 and increase the Tune Coarse modulation amount to 0.30. The rate of LFO 1 can stay at its default setting. 4

Next, LFO 2 will be used to control the speed of LFO 1. This is how the complexity of the patch is generated. We want a gradual increase of LFO 1 rate which requires a ramp up LFO. Set LFO 2 to Unipolar. Symmetry to 1.00, Triangle waveform selected and phase to 180º. 5

The LFO 2 rate is currently set to

Hertz. We can sync the LFO to the project BPM. This will allow us to achieve a precise duration of bars for the length of the effect. Set LFO 2 Rate to Sync Binary. Click on LFO 2 and increase the LFO 1 Rate modulation amount to 0.40. 6

Let’s set up an envelope to control multiple parameters and further enhance the FX patch. Set the attack to slow, around eight seconds. We want the modulation to increase as time progresses. This can be further emphasised by transforming the curve shape to exponential. Set the Attack Curve to 2.72.

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Now that we have the Envelope curve set up we can start to assign it to various destinations. Let’s set the filter by choosing a bandpass mode BP12 in the mode selector menu. Increase the resonance to 0.55 and lower the cutoff position to around halfway. Click on ENV 2 and increase the Filter Cutoff modulation amount to 0.33.

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To expand sound in the stereo field, increase the voicing and stereo amount of the unison. We can program these parameters so the changes happen over time. Set Unison Stereo to 0% to make the patch start in mono. Then click on ENV 2 and tweak the Unison Stereo modulation to 1. Click ENV 2 and raise the Unison Voices modulation to 0.20.

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We can make use of the additional wavetable parameters that’s at our disposal to further develop the sound. Make use of the same ENV 2 and assign it to the Phase Mod Sync/Retrig, dialling in an amount of 0.80.

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Delays are always a safe choice to help smooth out your FX patches. For this sound we stuck with the stock delay in Pigments, increasing the Dry/Wet to 25% and increasing the Stereo Spread to 0.054.

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Another effect worth looking into is a flanger. Not only for its distinct character but also the intensity and movement that it imparts. Dry/Wet increased to 54% and feedback dialled in at 84%.

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Lastly, its a good practice to export your synthesised FX patches as a WAV or AIFF loop. This makes it easy to quickly reuse the same sound in your new projects without loading up unnecessary CPU power. You now also have the option to reverse the audio sample for a different type of effect.