Larger Than Life Effects
Often a simple patch will get the job done and you may find yourself using a single oscillator. But there are occasions when something more atmospheric is called for, and there are several techniques you can use.
The first and probably most straightforward approach is to beef things up from within the synth itself. Layering, doubling up or simply finetuning oscillators can really help. Try creating a duplicate oscillator and de-tuning it a small amount. You won’t have to take things very far before you start to hear a real difference. This sort of de-tune setting will produce sounds very similar to chorus or ensemble effects. Some synths have this feature built in and will often take things further with multiple voices and even pan settings allowing you to construct monster stacks and ‘super saws’.
When combined with extra oscillators and resonant sweeps, these can be perfect for risers and drops, creating epic tension and suspense. Further oscillators can also be layered in this fashion to increase the complexity of a basic FX patch. A sub oscillator can add dimension and depth, while adding noise to a tuned patch can introduce some additional grit and dirt.
Beyond adding extra interest by using synthesis tricks, effects processing is probably the best way to super size your patches. Some more fully featured synths will often incorporate effects processors right into their interface. If you find your chosen synth has multi effects and you are happy with the quality of them, it can be wise to use them, as any changes here will likely be stored with your patch.
Spatial effects are often the best route to creating huge atmospheric patches. Delay and reverb work really well with most FX patches, adding stereo width and apparent size. And luckily they are some of the processors you are most likely to find integrated into your synth’s interface. By adding a straight-up hall reverb to a riser you immediately increase its effectiveness. The tail produced often softens transitions and makes the sound easier to place in the mix. If you can do this from within a software synth, it’s highly likely that you’ll get the added benefit of being able to modulate the reverb parameters, adding even more interest to your FX patch.
If you have to reach outside your synth to do your effects processing, you may lose the ability to save your effects settings with your patch but you will gain flexibility due to the sheer choice of plug-ins available.
Using more destructive effects can be an excellent way to transform a simple patch into a complex soundscape. Distortion, saturation and bitcrushing are just a few processors that shine in this department. Bitcrushing is especially effective when automated. A swept resolution parameter can work wonders on resonant FX and become the body of the sound.
We have already touched on how chorus style effects can be created using layered oscillators and, although this can yield great results, there are plenty of other modulation effects that can be put to work here. Phasers and ring modulators will work especially well with sustained sweeps. Again, automating parameters, such as feedback and LFO speed, can produce mind-bending undulations, perfect for drops.
Once you have the perfect combination of synth patch and processor chain, you should think about locking it down in some way. One route, if you’re working entirely in software, is to store them as a channel strip setting in your DAW. This means you can alter the settings when using it in different projects. Another method is to bounce the entire thing. Although this gives you a perfect render of the original, future adjustments are impossible.
Whichever route you choose, building up a library of synth effects coupled with your favourite processors is an awesome way to create truly useful tools for your mix. You may find that producing effects patches in this way gives you a genuinely original angle as well.