Onto the VCF, or Voltage Controlled Filter. Okay, so this section of the SYNTH screen is where you can really chisel your sounds out. Let's start with the square wave of VCO2, balance all the way to 2.
While holding down the B button, move the cutoff slider to the left. Notice how the wave seems to get chiseled until it transforms into a triangle wave and then goes silent. Set the cutoff to the right again and while sliding it left again, pay attention to the sound. As the cutoff goes left, the wave sounds like its getting lower in tone. This is because we are using the Low Pass Filter (LPF) which attenuates the higher frequencies, meaning it gets rid of them.
Switch to HPF, or High Pass Filter and listen again. You will notice that this filter works in the opposite way, but even all the way left it still has some attenuation. High Pass Filters are not as commonly used as Low Pass, but it has it's uses.
BPF stands for Band Pass Filter and attenuates a range that changes depending on where you set the cutoff. Go left and right with it and see if you can hear what's going on. By now, you can see we can create a wide range of sounds using a simple waveform and a filter, and we haven't even messed with Peak or the Envelope Generator Intensity!
EG INT we will save for another day, but let's talk about Peak. This is what is more commonly known as resonance, which amplifies the sound near the CUTOFF frequency. So let's go back to LPF, set CUTOFF and PEAK all the way to the right. Hold down the B button and slide your CUTOFF left. Whoa. Notice how if you leave the CUTOFF at a particular point and play B, it doesn't have the same tones as if you are sliding around your CUTOFF while the note is held. When you get to programming your sounds you can have cutoff sweeps by using an MG in the patch panel or setting a kaoss sequence (I hope I'm not getting too far ahead of myself here).
Try doing cutoff sweeps with the other filters, and also try filtering the other waves. Try to not change too many things at once, just go gradually from one to the other and hear the differences, it will help you understand how to really try the range of possible sounds. Filtering noise can do some cool things that you might not have expected this bleep bloopy synth to be capable of! In closing, I refer you to this for some more in depth info on what's going on with filters.
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Chapter 1: Navigating the Screens
Before we start getting into synthesis theory, it's important to be familiar with the environment we will be working in. Reading through the manual that comes with the app will help get you started, but there are a few typos and awkward translations. In order to avoid getting too wordy, I thought it may be helpful to just show the parts I feel the manual could have elaborated on. We will get into the functions in depth later on.
Menu - This is where you start. Pretty self explanatory. If you go to demo, you can get a feel for what is possible with DSN.
After starting a song, you will be taken to Main.
This screen contains 12 Tracks (Tr 01-Tr 12) listed vertically (each track is an independent synth). Each Track can be programmed for up to 64 patterns, listed on the horizontal axis. But wait, I only see 16 patterns, where are the rest? On the bottom of the screen you will see ABCD, these are the four banks for the patterns. You will also notice how there is a red light next to SELECT. If you want to copy a pattern in a track, tap COPY, then pick the pattern, then hit PASTE, then tap where you want it to go. This screenshot does not show it, but there will also be buttons labeled S and T just to the left of SELECT. These stand for Sequence and Tone. Basically, if you want to COPY/PASTE a just the sequence of notes from a pattern, then just highlight S, but if you want the Tone, or the way the synth is set up, use T. It caught me off guard the first time.
From this screen, you can go to OSET to change your oscilloscope (the top screen) from a waveform to see the sounds you are making or lissajous mode for a cool visual. There is meaning behind the lissajous curves if you are interested.
In SET, you can change the Beats Per Minute (BPM) and number of steps for the entire song (Master) and for each pattern. The ability to change steps for individual patterns is very handy for doing time signature changes within a song.
MIX is where you can apply FX and Reverb, change the panning of each track (if the sound is in your left or right ear) and Mute or Solo Tracks. Solo just means that only tracks lit up as S will be heard, unless none are selected. MIX is something you want to work on last, unless you already know ahead of time what you are going to do. I usually do not. I think the manual does a good job of explaining the FX, so I won't get into it.
The PTN page is pretty cool because it allows you to play your tracks like a DJ pad controller. If you want to queue up the next track without it jumping straight to it, make sure LOCK is selected. From this page you can also go to PTNPRG to put your patterns together in a song. Notice again how it has ABCD and 16 patterns listed vertically. Only one pattern can be played at once and there are four screens of patterns, so this can look a bit confusing at first. Use the circle pad to scroll right and you will see that your song can be up to 99 patterns long. I loaded the Demo of Disco to see how it all comes together.
Back at MAIN, if you click on the rectangle for a specific Track and pattern, you will be taken to the Note page. Now we can get into the good parts. The abbreviations are Note, Gate, Volume, Pan, KaossX and KaossY. If you go to SYNTH, you can get back to this page by going to SEQ.
The SYNTH page is where we will start the next chapter.
I hope this was helpful. The best way to get familiar is to load a demo and see for yourself what's going on. I promise the later chapters will be more interesting, at least for me. See ya!
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Menu - This is where you start. Pretty self explanatory. If you go to demo, you can get a feel for what is possible with DSN.
After starting a song, you will be taken to Main.
From this screen, you can go to OSET to change your oscilloscope (the top screen) from a waveform to see the sounds you are making or lissajous mode for a cool visual. There is meaning behind the lissajous curves if you are interested.
In SET, you can change the Beats Per Minute (BPM) and number of steps for the entire song (Master) and for each pattern. The ability to change steps for individual patterns is very handy for doing time signature changes within a song.
MIX is where you can apply FX and Reverb, change the panning of each track (if the sound is in your left or right ear) and Mute or Solo Tracks. Solo just means that only tracks lit up as S will be heard, unless none are selected. MIX is something you want to work on last, unless you already know ahead of time what you are going to do. I usually do not. I think the manual does a good job of explaining the FX, so I won't get into it.
The PTN page is pretty cool because it allows you to play your tracks like a DJ pad controller. If you want to queue up the next track without it jumping straight to it, make sure LOCK is selected. From this page you can also go to PTNPRG to put your patterns together in a song. Notice again how it has ABCD and 16 patterns listed vertically. Only one pattern can be played at once and there are four screens of patterns, so this can look a bit confusing at first. Use the circle pad to scroll right and you will see that your song can be up to 99 patterns long. I loaded the Demo of Disco to see how it all comes together.
Back at MAIN, if you click on the rectangle for a specific Track and pattern, you will be taken to the Note page. Now we can get into the good parts. The abbreviations are Note, Gate, Volume, Pan, KaossX and KaossY. If you go to SYNTH, you can get back to this page by going to SEQ.
The SYNTH page is where we will start the next chapter.
I hope this was helpful. The best way to get familiar is to load a demo and see for yourself what's going on. I promise the later chapters will be more interesting, at least for me. See ya!
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Chapter 2: Making Waves
I gotta admit, that first chapter was brutal to write. The purpose of my tutorial is all about learning synthesis, not menus! Anyway let's get to it.
Let's begin a new song and go to the SYNTH page. There are knobs separated into different categories. Be wary, the text above the knobs is the category name, while below it is for that specific knob. Let's just focus on the VCO category, which means Voltage Controlled Oscillator. Some other synths call this OSC. VCO is kind of a misnomer for a digital synth, but the naming is meant to emulate the knobs on the Korg MS-10, so it is forgivable. For the knobs VCO1 and VCO2, you will notice they do not glide, but jump to four different selections, these are your waveforms. From left to right, they are triangle, sawtooth, pulse (sometimes called square), and noise. If you press the B button, you can see the waveform on the upper screen matches what you selected (assuming you did start a new song and didn't change anything else!).
I should mention, the noise on VCO2 is different than VCO1. To hear and see the difference, put both on noise and use the balance knob to go back and forth (straight up plays both at the same volume), pressing B to play the sound. The VCO2 noise is looks like a bunch of random pulse waves, which is great for simulating chiptune type sounds.
VCO1 has a Pulse Width knob, which only affects the pulse wave. The PW can go from 50% to 0%. Notice how 0% is just silence. Something to note, on the NES soundchip you could have a pulse wave with 75%, 50%, 25%, or 12.5% even though 75% and 25% sound exactly the same. Why is that? I'm afraid that's not an easy answer, but I can give that it's own tutorial if anyone really wants to know. For now, I just want to mention that 0-50 is all you really need here.
VCO2's pulse wave is a true square wave, with a 50% duty cycle. VCO2 has a pitch knob, which can be used to detune it from VCO1. I am a bit sad that it doesn't show how many cents it is detuned (this app is digital, it would be easy!). Instead you just have to play it by ear till you find something you feel sounds good. VCO SYNC keeps the two VCOs pulsing at the same rate, but for me I prefer the way things sound if they are not synced.
Play around with the keyboard or kaoss pad to hear your waves across different notes. Go nuts!
If you want to know more about what these waves really are, I suggest reading this article. In fact, that entire series is a good read and I am starting to question if my series is even needed. Doh!
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Let's begin a new song and go to the SYNTH page. There are knobs separated into different categories. Be wary, the text above the knobs is the category name, while below it is for that specific knob. Let's just focus on the VCO category, which means Voltage Controlled Oscillator. Some other synths call this OSC. VCO is kind of a misnomer for a digital synth, but the naming is meant to emulate the knobs on the Korg MS-10, so it is forgivable. For the knobs VCO1 and VCO2, you will notice they do not glide, but jump to four different selections, these are your waveforms. From left to right, they are triangle, sawtooth, pulse (sometimes called square), and noise. If you press the B button, you can see the waveform on the upper screen matches what you selected (assuming you did start a new song and didn't change anything else!).
I should mention, the noise on VCO2 is different than VCO1. To hear and see the difference, put both on noise and use the balance knob to go back and forth (straight up plays both at the same volume), pressing B to play the sound. The VCO2 noise is looks like a bunch of random pulse waves, which is great for simulating chiptune type sounds.
VCO1 has a Pulse Width knob, which only affects the pulse wave. The PW can go from 50% to 0%. Notice how 0% is just silence. Something to note, on the NES soundchip you could have a pulse wave with 75%, 50%, 25%, or 12.5% even though 75% and 25% sound exactly the same. Why is that? I'm afraid that's not an easy answer, but I can give that it's own tutorial if anyone really wants to know. For now, I just want to mention that 0-50 is all you really need here.
VCO2's pulse wave is a true square wave, with a 50% duty cycle. VCO2 has a pitch knob, which can be used to detune it from VCO1. I am a bit sad that it doesn't show how many cents it is detuned (this app is digital, it would be easy!). Instead you just have to play it by ear till you find something you feel sounds good. VCO SYNC keeps the two VCOs pulsing at the same rate, but for me I prefer the way things sound if they are not synced.
Play around with the keyboard or kaoss pad to hear your waves across different notes. Go nuts!
If you want to know more about what these waves really are, I suggest reading this article. In fact, that entire series is a good read and I am starting to question if my series is even needed. Doh!
Return to Index
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