Thanks that’s cool, I’ll check them out.
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thanks for admitting that you were being harsh. neither me nor anyone else i saw warranted anything like that. it happens, you’ve edited it out and admitted it wasn’t good, forgotten.
you specifically asked for a comprehensive walkthrough of the synth. that’s the closest i’m aware of. this kind of response makes you seem childish. he seems a handsome enough fellow to me. 
i’d reconsider and give a few videos in the series a few minutes of your time and you might find some answers. perhaps not, idk, it’s not all just ‘Peak tips and tricks tutorial’ but there’s some good knowledge in there from what i remember.
don’t think i’ve encountered that, making a note to play with this next time i’m at the Peak. thanks.
i certainly wasn’t trying for a quick burn, i’m just a bit blunt at times. the questions are a bit ambiguous and so yeah, it’s difficult to dig into details on LFO sweet spots or whatever else without talking about a specific patch. i see you’ve posted some specific patches to discuss later ITT and that’s probably a great place to start from. i doubt i’ll be digging in that deep but there may be some interested person here who will.
i’ve heard many, many, many pleasant tones out of the Peak. subjective. it may not be for you, which is of course totally okay.
it is a great synth for what it is imo, but it’s certainly not the only option plus or minus a few things. you mention later ITT that you are/were into some Dave Smith stuff, maybe one of those would be a better thing instead of the Peak?
i like all that stuff you mention as well, but i like it a lot more than you seem to. plus i’m a big fan of the options the inbuilt effects have integrated with the synth.
i’m of the camp of people trying to get the most out of their gear. pushing instruments to their edges/past what they’re ‘designed’ for is where some really magical stuff can happen imo.
that sounds pretty cool, making a note to check it out too, thanks.
i really can’t expound on how to get ‘good results’ because i really just trust my ears and instincts and play…which is a big part of why i love the design of the synth, almost everything hands-on.
i’m drawing a blank on exactly when/how i’ve used diverge to particularly good effect, will follow up another day if i can.
we rarely know the experience level of the people we’re chatting with. and your sorta vague ‘what are the sweet spots’ questions didn’t make it seem like you were terribly experienced. no offense meant at all.
i really can’t quantify the techniques i use without specifically getting into exact patches. i wish i could! not being snippy, my brain just doesn’t work that way. hopefully some others here might be able to help, or again, some of the suggested YT videos going in depth might work best.
maybe so, they can be pretty quick and fun. i see the Peak more as a workhorse type of synth.
i’ve seen a few people (Gearspace, maybe here? elsewhere?) who felt the same after getting a Peak. it’s just not for everyone, but also i would say it’s definitely one that grows on you.
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im on the latest firmware. the previous one did sound like a nightmare though. i dont find it pleasant, but i guess im used to the prophet/elektron mod matrix style
i dont think it’s very complex. i do understand that wavetables arent meant to be stacked typically, and i know most people are assuming i just dont know how to make good patches, which is an easy assumption to make if you didn’t actually read what i asked, which is why ive included all of my patches above. you can see what im doing, tell me what im doing wrong, see how bad i am at patching if you’d like
hopefully it’s clear now that “if you dont like a synth, you probably dont know what you’re doing” isn’t a great answer
i was half kidding. i actually have started to work my way through the playlist in the time between i wrote that and tonight, so i appreciate the link. i do remember attempting to watch a 40+ minute video of him on the peak where he talked about the behringer model d for at least half of the video with his face right up against the camera lens. also each of his thumbnails make it look like he’s trying to model, which is maybe childish and has no bearing on his expertise, but i have an aversion to that style of video or i cant learn if im distracted by things like that. i dont think that’s really what i’m looking for though. i prefer walkthrough’s where a content creator is showing you a peculiar trick or irregularity they found through experimentation or through using one piece of gear for a very long time, they’ve kind of worked out its inherent nature and learned really push the instrument. something like max marco, ivar tryti, or even the macprovideo guy. i haven’t found anything quite like that for the peak. but maybe the peak doesn’t have any of that. maybe that’s why my question is so confusing to some people
im really not trying to pick a fight here, but yes, we can all agree that “good” is subjective, right? maybe this is not the synth for me, maybe this is not the question for you to respond to, if you have no idea what im talking about. should no one ask questions about subjective quality anymore? this is the kind of thing that just feels unnecessary to me. i appreciate you taking the time to try and answer step by step here, but i honestly dont think this is productive. maybe i should expect answers like this, i dont know. maybe it was worded poorly. i 'll try and be better in the future
im surprised by this because i’ve seen a lot of people say “use the diverge/drift” if it doesn’t sound “warm” enough or whatever, but im with you. i rarely ever use it
that’s ok, its my fault. sorry to you. i assumed incorrectly that i was more clear about trying everything i possibly could to get good sounds without any luck
i dont think elektron instruments are any less deep than novation. but one thing i may be conflating is the “sweet spot” factor that is inherent in such a deep flexible and modern design. there are unintended and surprising results that come from experimentation and even subtle parameter adjustments with instruments like the digitone or the a4, and they are many times not immediately apparent
i think i’ve clarified this point enough. i understand that you did not understand what i was asking, but hopefully you do now. i apologize for rushing to judgement. by “sweet spots” i meant: “things that are counter-intuitive, specific to a certain synth’s unique functions, things that the manual does not lay out, things that do not make themselves apparent when using traditional synthesis methods, things that come with time and experience using that particular synth.” i disagree that my question was vague, and i didn’t just say “where are the sweet spots?” i’ve been reiterating what i’ve said in my initial post for the last 24 hours here because people continue to criticize me for being vague or not knowing what im doing, but then get upset because im being too harsh when i call them out.
the root of my question was “are there any factors within this synth’s components that result in unexpected, counter-intuitive behaviors that you may have found via experimentation/time/accidentally”. we know that the ring mod is not like a typical ring mod and it is restricted here. the noise to filter cutoff is a normalled modulation, as it is on the rev2’s “audio mod” but does not produce similar results. the envelopes have a peculiar way of gaining an exponential or logarithmic curve, so why wouldn’t there be other counter-intuitive behaviors that one would not immediately be able to find by using the same synthesis applications they use on other synths. i do not believe it is controversial to say that a synth has unique quirks and unexpected behavior in certain instances . i think that some peak fans would rather me just say “it’s not for me” without criticizing their beloved gear than say “i want to like this, do you know of anything else i can maybe try before i give up”
the point of uploading my patches was not, “hey since everyone here is dying to have my synth patches, i’ve decided to be a nice guy and share them with you”. it was so you can get a better idea what type of practical sounds im trying to create for music making purposes. or so you can determine for yourself if i really just suck at patching synths. its a possibility. i also created the preset banks that came with an early firmware update of the polyend/dreadbox medusa. im not really interested in making evolving ambient patches with a lot of movement. i have done that with modular in the past, with other more flexible synths. i’ve since sold that gear to attempt to create a more music-oriented setup. most of what i hear in the featured presets are people trying to show how much modulation they can add to a waveshape or pitch and how can they get a one key ambient track. i find that kind of thing practically unusable. that doesn’t mean i dont want a flexible synth with a lot of options. i just also want it to sound good (to me). if i can find nice textures, that would be nice, but if you were to take a look at some of the stuff ive made so far, i think its apparent that im attempting to get a simple nice timbre out of it, nothing complex. i too like to push instruments to their limits. i prefer experimental sound design typically, so i do enjoy that. i just think that there are much better options for that kind of sound design. i have some of them. but with this synth i just need a poly to be versatile and sound nice. i think i will swap it out for the new sequential, like you’ve suggested.
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inb4 “buying new gear isn’t going to help you if you dont know what you’re doing”
(not directed at anyone in particular, just a popular sentiment)
that wasn’t the point either. i think i did close to the best that one can possibly do with the tools available. im not displeased with the patches ive created. i was just offering them up for people that might want to criticize me based on my actual work rather than what they perceive to be a lack of knowledge. i think they are probably to the best of the synth’s abilities. thanks though, that is very nice of you
*EDIT: actually if you do end up feeling like it. I thought of one sound that I couldn’t actually nail precisely. I was happy with the end result in a few variations but it wasn’t the same as the initial patch that inspired it. I was trying to emulate a sound I heard in this video around 0:22
i think i made a post about it here somewhere. There is a patch called “Slowhaunt” in Bank B of my uploads. i believe you can preview patches on your peak via components and just download or import individual ones that you like, so if you feel like finding that one, then the few variants after that (maybe 7-10 or so patches that follow it, some are called “closer”, etc) until I gave up. but I think “Closer 4” maybe “5” were the ones I like a lot. so one of those would be what I’d grab if i were you, if you can get closer to the sound in the video, that would very much appreciated. It sounds to me like duophonic pattern hard sync’ed with some very sharp lpf envelope depth with a low cutoff on a sawtooth with a lot of harmonic content. thanks again
Then as far as other random ones i remember thinking were good; I did also like “Norns Sway” for use with that particular reactive fx script for norns and “Tacoma OPEN”, which is in B or C. there are some variations, but i think the most recent one, not the “foot” exp pedal version i made.
there are 3 or 4 in Bank A that arent mine, but patches i grabbed from components that i may have slightly altered or not, sometimes i just reposition them so i can build from them incrementally while saving the current state as a “work in progress” patch. but im not trying to play those off as my own, if you recognize “June” or “kromafon” and i think one other one. they are near one another.
*Edit: working through this conversation has made me realize that maybe i took the Peak for granted. Whereas with some analog synths, you are starting with a pretty rich source and mostly reigning that in (subtractive), the Peak almost requires you to really push it in terms of extreme settings, effects and modulation. but it is capable of doing some very cool things. i’ve been trying to get relatively experimental and crazy with my patching and that has actually gotten me some cool results. i thought this one i made this morning was pretty cool sounding
Loading F.syx (527 Bytes)
i dont know if patches save/export custom wavetables, but if not, this one uses 2 of them. osc1 is PWM Maths 2.syx (2.6 KB) & Osc2 is Bowed Metal.syx (2.6 KB)
**I want to add an update here and let anyone who is curious know that yes, the Take 5 is far superior to the Peak in almost every way. and the points where it excels are vastly more significant than the things it lacks. better fx, more fx, far far better oscillators, better filter, better envelopes, better overdrive, much more intuitive mod mapping (although there are arguably less traditional mod sources) despite the lack of looping envelopes, just a much better instrument overall. better sound in general, by a long shot. like not even close, in terms of character and versatility. it can also do analog fm, real hard sync, and digital ring modulation
I’m all for asking tips and tricks on this thread, let’s not make it become a one to one discussion.
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Im a bit busy with some projects around the house this week so i dont have time to go through all patches. If you have some selected ones you kind of like, but is “missing” the thing you want, i can try to dig deeper into them. Maybe i can see if i would have done something different and if that would make them more to your liking. And maybe we both learn something new. 
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I wasn’t aware of this, that’s great, thanks for sharing!
Is anyone using a desktop editor with their Peak, or aware of a decent one?
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yeah this is actually a really cool feature that i was not aware of. very helpful. thanks again @LyingDalai
i do not use an editor but here’s one:
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Hello Everybody!
I keep getting gas for the Subharmonicon. I’ve been trying to stave off the gas by using my PEAK to get close to that sound.
Sending 2 short monophonic sequences to my PEAK with varying rhythms which is close rhythmically.
But I wonder how you could better emulate that sound? I’ve been using similar wave shapes. What else does the SH do that can be made on the PEAK?
Thanks!
I don’t think it’d be very easy to replicate the Subharmonicon sound-wise on the Peak unfortunately! Apart from the polyrhthmic aspect of it (which you’re emulating by sending two different sequences), you have two main oscillators, each with two suboscs that can be tuned to different subdivisions of the main osc frequencies. You could try to emulate that by tuning the Peak’s three oscillators to subharmonic intervals, but it would be quite fiddly, and you wouldn’t have enough oscillators. Also the SubH is paraphonic – all of the oscs go through a common filter and VCA, controlled by the sequencers, which is a big part of its sound, on the Peak they’ll do that per voice.
If you have Bitwig, I made an approximation of the Suharmonicon in the Grid, whch you can download here: Bitwig Preset: Subharmonigrid | Bitwiggers
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Great, thank you kindly for the clear response. So, the subharmonic intervals aren’t just octaves down? I’ll have to dig deeper or start saving
I’ve killed a lot of GAS in the past by getting my Peak to do “close enough” impressions of other gear, so I whole heartedly endorse this approach.
The thing is (sound part of) the Subharmonicon is built around two sets of:
- A primary VCO
- Two frequency-dividing subs that filter out or emphasize certain harmonic series of the VCO output.
I can’t think of a great way to model the harmonic suboscilators in the Peak (smarter people, please chime in!) So what you’ll probably end up doing is using each of the three oscillators to mimic the VCO and two subs leaving you with only ½ a subharmonicon.
And even then it’d be fiddly. You’d have to set oscillators 2 and 3 to the specific harmonic offsets of 1 that you’d like by hand. And then it’d probably sound “more muddy” than the SubH because they’re generating their own full harmonic content, and not just filtering out (and emphasizing) the harmonic bits of the first.
The ideal setup for this would be one OSC and a bunch of filters and the Peak is pretty much backwards from that 
Late thought edit: Actually the ideal way to model this might be an additive synth or plugin. But that’s also not the Peak.
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No, it’s a division of the main frequency (so half the frequency, one third of the frequency, one quarter, etc). So some of them are octaves, but not all (see Undertone series - Wikipedia). Loopop did a good vid explaining it too:
Another thing that the SubH can do that would be difficult on the Peak is that you can sequence the subsosc divisions from the sequencers. I guess you could use CCs to tune the Peak’s oscillators per-step, but that is getting super compicated! One of the joys of the SubH is that it’s a happy accident machine – turn the knobs until something good comes out.
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Post an audio clip of the patch you’re trying to replicate and I’ll give it a shot.
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I got this editor a few weeks back and it’s not the best, tbh… I’d rather use the Peak’s interface than this one.
I got the Synthnet editor for my Rev2 recently and that’s really good. It works great standalone or as a VST in Ableton. It cost a bit more than the Momo Peak one, but it’s worth it. It’s given me a lot better understanding of the Rev2 and it makes automating it a doddle in AL.
I wish there was one for the Peak as good as it…
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Did you check the Sigabort? It seems a very good one, but it didn’t work with my setup, running everything through my mioXL
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Ahh, that looks more like what I’m after, thanks!
I’ll check this out…
I have both, so feel authorized to comment here. The previous posters have identified some of the key aspect in trying to control the peak to make SH type noises, but I think there are two outstanding issues:
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The SH is really designed to be played like an instrument. It is very limited, in my opinion, on the types of sounds it can make; it always sounds like a SH. (These sounds are often fantastic, BTW, so perhaps not as limiting as you might worry.) But the real benefit is that you can play almost every aspect of the instrument in a very musical way. Bring in and out sequences. Modify the subscilators. Add patch cables. I feel like I can take a simple idea and really evolve it while playing it. This will be difficult to replicate on the Peak, though the peak will provide a much wider sound palate.
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The SH sound
I know @spikysimon was talking about the subosciltators, but I’ve had a hard time making the Peak reproduce something that sounds like even a lone oscillator on the SH (or any Moog, for that matter). I think the Peak sounds clean by default (some might say dry or cool, but this is a matter of opinion), which I think lends to its flexibility. But it would be nice to get a nice, warm saw sound somehow. I would love to hear what others do to achieve this. I have often used two or more oscillators with drift and divergence (Shoebridge had a video on this), but haven’t got a good single oscillator solution. Wavetables? Distortion? I’m curious.
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I almost always use some post filter distortion. It is in the voice menu as it is applied per voice, thus it doesn’t destroy the sound when you press multiple keys at once (like it can do with regular distortion). Also often some filter overdrive to add some bottom end, but this also changes the way the filter reacts, so might not always be desirable.
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