Creating a distinctive lead sound

> Step by step 1. How to create a distinctive lead with CableGuys Curve 2 CM

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Although we have access to some cool presets with the Suite synths, sometimes it’s useful or just fun to be able to construct a lead sound from scratch. We’re using CableGuys Curve 2 CM, which has an incredibly flexible oscillator section to help us create a unique lead. Create a fresh track with Curve 2 CM. 2

The first thing to do is make sure you have a fresh patch to work on. From the menu in the top right, select New. Before creating our sound we need to set our Play mode to Legato and apply some Oscillator Glide (about 50ms is good). You’ll see these at the bottom centre of the interface. 3

Curve 2 CM has four waveforms. The first two combine to form Osc 1, the third is Osc 2, and the fourth the LFO waveform. Waveforms can be viewed and edited in the display. Start by turning down Osc 2 Volume and check Osc 1 Crossfade is set to Wave 1 (0). 4

Play now and you should just be hearing Wave 1. Now on the right-hand side below the waveform display you’ll find icons for sine, saw and square waveforms. Set Wave 1 to saw, then click on Wave 2 in the oscillator and set that to square. Use the Crossfade control to create a blended sound. 5

As we said, the waveforms can be edited, and this is where the fun begins. Click on the curve to add nodes, right-click to change the shape of the node, and grab sections between nodes to change shapes. Right-click in the display to select all points and adjust them all collectively. 6

By playing with the wave shapes we’ve created a good sound, and now we need to finesse it. First up, adjust the volume envelope (Vol-EG). Here we’ve extended out the Release (2.93s) and shortened the Attack (6.64ms). We’ve also set the Polyphony to 32 as the longer tail may lead to note stealing. 7

Now let’s use Wave 4. Set this to Sine and then set the Rate in the LFO section to Beat Synced, ¼ note and Level 0.40. Next, set Filter 1 on the right to 12dB Clean HP (frequency 381Hz, resonance 51%). Finally, in the Modulations Matrix at the bottom left set the LFO to Filter Cutoff 1 at 55. 8

We have a second filter and envelope to control it, so next load up filter 24dB Clean LP in filter 2’s slot (416Hz Cutoff, 43% Resonance). Then set the envelope (EG) settings to Attack 21ms, Decay 25ms, Loop 3s and Release 4s. Finally, in the Modulations Matrix set the EG to Filter Cutoff 2 at 100. 9

Finally, Curve 2 CM has three macros that allow you to control multiple parameters. The default patch has Macro 3 assigned settings including Unison, Detune and Spread, and we’ve adjusted the Unison setting and set the overall Macro to about 10% to give our lead a final layer of richness.