Help me make this creaky bass patch on the A4!

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

So I’ve wanted to know how this sound was made before bought my first synth. I couldn’t replicate it on my Digitone, but having spent a few days with my A4, it feels like it might be possible?

It’s the bass line from Vision One by Royksopp

I can tell there’s a Low Pass filter on a slow LFO modulating it, triangle or sine, but that’s about it.

I can’t tell at the moment if it’s all one patch, or if there is a low bass note layer and a high creaky layer over the top.

Thoughts on how this was done and what a Vision One patch might be on the A4?

#2

There’s a square wave LFO, with near audio rate modulating either the cut-off or the amp output level (or sustain level). That’s what provides the “creak”. The rate of that LFO might also be getting modulated a bit in time, too… it seems slower at the start of each bar, to me.

2 Likes
#3

sounds like one of those old Yamaha SY77 FM-Synth-Battleships with a slow phaser

3 Likes
#4

I would never have thought of that!

1 Like
#5

I think there’s two layers, too. As you say, a baseline, and a creak.

1 Like
#6

Yes the bass part seemed to change notes at a different rate to the change in the creak

#7

What an epic patch name.

1 Like
#8

Google says the SY77 is multi-timbral so it could have produced the bass and the creak at the same time?

#9

I’ve only recently got into extreme amplitude modulation. It’s fun. I’m no expert.

1 Like
#10

Yet another thread making me wonder if I should swap most of my synths for an A4 - just for the space + workflow. sigh

3 Likes
#11

probably

but it could also be a note-priority-interrupt in the sequencer itself

let’s say you have a mono-patch bass-line in the lower octaves around C2 and place above a very very short note or maybe three to four of this short notes on C8, you can produce a glitch similar to your example when the patch provides instructions how to behave when engaged on higher notes (ex. LFO-frequency multiplied x10 when on higher note active)

but i guess a 303 or a clone with a dirty distortion-pedal like a RAT or similar will do the same dirty sound

#12

Yeah seems like a 303 type line through a tube/valve drive, possibly with selective eq filtering pre-drive.

I don’t think the A4 could nail it alone with no processing, but if I were to try I’d set Osc1 to feedback, set Osc2 for a typical 303 type sound and go from there, SV filter possibly set to bandpass, experiment with Osc1 level to get desired crunch.

1 Like
#13

i would enhance it by routing the first part thru part 2,3 and 4 facilitating all the notch-filters with different values

#14

I have an Analog Heat if that would help?

1 Like