Synapse Audio Dune CM
> Step by step 1. Oscillator waveform flexibility in Dune CM
1 Dune has one of the simplest synth interfaces around, and although more recent versions have swapped things around a bit, Dune CM is based on the original version with all main controls visible. In our first tutorial we’ll look at a feature which may not be immediately apparent – oscillator waveforms.
2 Load a fresh instance of Dune CM and head to the middle panel, selecting Bank B to initialise a new patch. Now look at the oscillator section at the top left. Here you’ll see buttons for the three main oscillator types but also a Sel option. Choose this for both oscillators.
3 This switches the oscillators so they are sourced from the waveform selector. Here you’ll find 69 different waveforms and you select them either using the Up/Down buttons or by simply dragging the cursor inside the box. You’ll see a small graphic indicating the waveform shape loaded.
4 Try cycling through the available waveform options. You’ll find a whole variety of sounds. Check out number 12 for example, with its complex harmonic content. As you get to the end of the list there are also a few impulse waveforms (68 for example) and we’ll return to these in our second Dune CM tutorial.
5 We can treat the waveforms like any other oscillator. But with a more complex core sound you can create more interesting patches much more quickly. As a starting point, we’ve selected waveform 13, which has an organ-like sound to it, and lengthened the amplifier release slightly (about 45%).
6 Now to give this a richer, more swirly organ sound let’s use Dune CM’s Unison control. Set this to 4 Voices and then adjust Detune to taste. For a pitchy sound you want the Detune quite high (40 to 50%). But we prefer the more subtle effect at about 5%.
7 Sticking with the organ vibe, let’s now select the same waveform 13 for Oscillator 2. Rather than have individual oscillator levels, Dune CM has a balance control for Osc 1 and Osc 2. So, to create a blend of these two sounds you need to adjust the Osc Mix control.
8 Now offset the pitch of the second oscillator using the Semi control. We’ve set this to +12, adding an octave above. If we now blend oscillator 2 to taste (ours is at about 30%) we can achieve a pretty typical two-stop organ sound.
9 Finally we can make our patch more playable by assigning some kind of control to the oscillator mix blend. By right -clicking the control we’ve used the MIDI Learn option to assign CC 77 to this, and we can control the mix blend in real time.
> Step by step 2. Using the One-shot feature in Dune CM
1 Dune CM’s waveforms have another trick up their sleeve. But first let’s create a core sound. We’re going for the big 808 bass sound. Initialise the preset as before and set Osc 1 to its third option, which is a Sine wave.
2 Over in the Output section set playback mode to Mono and also increase the Glide time to taste – we’ve set ours to about 40%. Playing the patch, it sounds a bit clicky and abrupt. Try extending the amplitude envelope Release – we’ve set ours to about 30%.
3 The sound is very clean, which you may or may not like. But we’ll add some harmonics to give it more presence in the low mids. Simply switching the filter type makes a difference – we’ve chosen LP24+Saturation. Note, we haven’t actually adjusted the filter Cutoff yet.
4 Also try the Filter Envelope. Set Decay and Sustain to about 30%, set the filter Env Amount to its maximum setting and then adjust down the filter Cutoff. We’ve set ours to about 35%. We now have a reasonably punchy sine bass patch.
5 To take this further we’ll use a very nifty and often overlooked feature in Dune CM called One Shot. This is a modulation matrix option that changes the playback mode of an oscillator from a continuous cycle to one.
6 With a regular oscillator wave this may not seem much of a feature, but as mentioned in the previous page, some of the waveforms are actually impulses, and thus are great for adding clicky attack to sounds. Check out waveforms 66 to 69.
7 To make this work, select the Mod Matrix 1 to 12 page. In the Source column select Arp Note and in the Destination from the Oscillators menu choose Osc 2 One Shot. Now if we select any positive value for the Amount, Osc 2 will only play one cycle of its waveform.
8 To integrate this with our 808 bass sound we’ve selected waveform 66. Balance the two using the Osc Mix control. Getting this balance right can be tricky, and less is often more here. We’ve set ours to about 30%.
9 Finally, we can tweak the oscillator settings for our Osc 2. The most impactful option is either to try one for the other impulse waveforms, or to simply adjust the pitch setting. Here we’ve set ours to +8 semitones for a different feel.