I have been caught more than once saying that the most important parameter on any synth is the amp envelope.
The reason it matters so much is that all sound has a “shape”. The amp envelope allows us to take what once would have been a normal sine wave, and shape the volume to make it sound like other sounds.
If you haven’t already, make sure you grab a copy of The Quick Synth Map. It’s a pretty handy reference for sound design, and I will continue to refer to it throughout this sound design series.
Amp Envelope Examples
Sometimes the best way to understand something is to just watch it happen in action. Here are three examples of how you can use amp envelopes to create simple sounds. Timestamps are provided to reference the video, and some additional thoughts are provided here in the text.
Simple Flute – 3:01
Making a flute out of a sine wave works really well. If I were going to perform with this patch, I would consider adding a slight vibrato to the end of the sound by attaching an LFO to the oscillator’s pitch control.
I demonstrate how to set that up at the end of this video on creating synth strings.
Bells – 3:35
Creating bells this way gets you close, however creating a convincing bell sound requires a few extra harmonics
If you listen closely to a bell, you will notice that there are hidden dissonant pitches within the sound.
The bell itself may have an overall pitch, but there will be some very quite dissonant pitches hidden within it. That is a part of what makes a bell stand out as a bell.
If you are curious about this, you can try adding a second oscillator, pitch it up 7 half steps, and bring the volume down so you can just barely hear it.
Bass – 4:27
This bass patch works well.
If you wanted to step you bass game up a little, you could add a bit of an envelope to the filter frequency.
This technique helps the sound of what we would identify as a pluck really be brought out and gives the beginning of the sound some extra punch.
What To Do Now?
Make sure you have a copy ofThe Quick Synth Map.
If you are ready to go a bit deeper, join my sound design for keyboardists course. It’s the best way to go about understanding the foundations of synthesis and sound design.