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5. Effects

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Syntronik 2 has some awesome onboard effects sourced from IK Multimedia’s long-running effects bundles such as T-RackS. When you page through the browser, selecting a preset reveals its accompanying effects. Let’s grab a couple of different J-60 presets and see what we can do. 2

We’ve chosen the preset ‘Strings J-60’. This has five effects and with the preset loaded, we can access and edit the effects by selecting the Effects icon at the bottom. You’ll see two of the effects (Black 76 and Tape Echo) are ready for use, but are bypassed when the preset loads. 3

Looking at the Effects Panel, new modules are loaded from their dropdown menus at the top, and the 71 modules are in six categorised folders. Loaded modules can also be reordered by drag and drop. At the bottom of each effect you can also save settings for that specific module. 4

In addition to individual preset saving, Syntronik 2 also includes effects chains. Head over to the bottom righthand side and click on the chain icon. The modules can now be saved and loaded as one. Finally, the padlock icon at the bottom left allows you to keep the currently loaded effects when you change the synth preset. 5

It can be quite handy when making changes to bypass all the effects together. To do this open the Multi Panel. The part header on the left hand side has a number of icons next to the Volume slider. Click on the middle icon to bypass and activate the whole effects section. 6

Using this trick for our loaded patch, it’s clear the effects are adding considerably to the sound. The Plate Reverb is pretty self explanatory and the Channel Strip is just sweetening the high and low frequencies. The most significant change is from the Ensemble and its Mono to Stereo option which is adding a nice rich width to the strings.

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Next, let’s add in the two bypassed effects. The Black 76 is a super fast 1176-style compressor and this adds some bite to the attack. The Tape Echo, meanwhile, is an excellent tape emulation and perfect for adding some lovely charactful delay.

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Now let’s try a different type of preset. We’ve loaded ‘Rehearsal Bass’, which has three modules – SVT Classic, Electric Flanger and White 2A. Once again, bypassing all the effects shows just what an impact they‘re having. The SVT in particular is shaping both the drive and EQ of the preset.

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The Electric Flanger, in addition to adding some synced movement, is adding a bit of width using a low setting on the Range parameter. Finally, the White 2A, which is an optical compressor, is adding a bit of thump to the attack and bringing up the sustain in the synth sound.